The Spartan Crew Member
by Daisy Rhine
Summary: Commander Shepard and his crew find the other half of the ship that MC is on. When they find him they have no idea what they should expect but an chemically suped up human was not one of them. I don't own Halo or Mass Effect 343industries and BioWare do.
1. The Discovery

Chapter One: The Discovery 

Well let's start off with, hello readers welcome to a new story of mine that just reading other peoples stories have helped give me the courage to write. Here is my take on a Halo and Mass Effect Crossover. I really do hope that you find reading it fun. : )

My Beta Reader, werecat1, has been really tired lately. I am asking for prayer for them.

Now as you all are about to read this I need to let you all know that this is written pretty far in. As at I have passed chapter thirty. So if you had an idea I will do my best to see if it fits in but if it doesn't I am truly sorry. Please enjoy the story.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

Okay, before you all read the chapter I want to get this out. I know this is another Halo Mass Effect story. But I really wanted to write it. So if you are not interested in reading it please don't read it. I want this story to be enjoyable for my readers. I ask for constructive criticism if you are going to review about a problem you see.

My plan for this is to have different things happen with the addition of these Halo Characters to the Mass Effect Universe. As well as let the Mass Effect Universe have an impact on the Halo Universe.

Anyways I apologize but I wanted to get this out before you got to the story. I hope you enjoy the story.

Liam Shepard was startled out of concentration when E.D.I. popped up and spoke, "Commander Shepard please come to the bridge there is something you need to see. Our scanners found something."

Liam sighed and looked at the email he was in the middle of writing, "I will be right down there I am almost done."

"As you wish Commander." With that reply E.D.I. returned back to the bridge.

The red headed Commander finished the email and left his room to see what the commotion was about. He was surprised to find that even Garrus was looking out the bridge window in shock. The Turian looked at Liam as the light green eyed human stood next to him and his jaw dropped. "Who could possibly create such a large and unknown ship?"

Garrus was correct this was a pretty large ship Liam, not the largest that the commander had seen but that it was still shocking because it looked like it had been cut in half. "It is almost a miracle that it works. It looks old."

"Scanners suggest that this ship is actually ahead by 404 years and is not in any known databases. Also I am unable to go any further in my scan." E.D.I. spoke up shocking everybody, "I should also add that there is no Element Zero anywhere on the ship."

Liam was about to ask a question when Joker spoke up, "What do you mean it is ahead. That can't be possible. Can it?"

Mordin answered, "Actually it is possible I have found a wave length suggesting that there is another universe that is ahead in the timeline. There is also no Mass Effect Terminus, thus why we have never been able to get there and vise versa. That can explain why there is no Element Zero as well."

"E.D.I. do you know how you are being blocked?"

"I have two assumptions Commander. One it is ahead in technology so I am unable access it or there is an A.I. on board."

"What do you mean A.I.?" Tali screeched in surprise.

"Tali you should keep in mind that this ship does not come from our universe thus does not have our ban on A.I. most likely." Mordin said, "Even so this is fascinating. Are there any life forms?"

"Unknown my scan can not get past either the A.I. or the fire wall."

"Well then there is only one way to do this."

Garrus smirked, "We get to board it."

mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh

Liam, Garrus, and Mordin entered the damaged ship walking down the light flickering hallways. "Mordin, how is this ship still powered?"

The Salarian pulled up his Omni-tool scanning the ship from within, "The Omni-Tool suggests that there is a back up power for this half of the ship." Mordin stopped causing the other two to do the same, "We should go back two rooms that room seems to be receiving the most power input."

The group turned around and went back. When they got to the door it opened flawlessly and noisily that Garrus just had to speak up, "Well if they didn't know we were here they sure know we are here now."

Liam chuckled and looked around. In the room was the old technology of Cryo Bay. "Interesting this ship is 404 years older than us and it still has a Cryo Bay on board."

"Then this would suggest that this is likely a human ship and is also behind in technology or they put their efforts elsewhere. Though I have no proof yet."

"Thought there is also that there is English on the side of the ship." Mordin nodded in agreement to Shepard's words.

Garrus cocked his head to the side and walked over to a Cryo Tube his 'eyebrows' shooting up when he looked inside. Waving his hand in the air he called to the other two, "Um, you two might want to look at this."

Liam and Mordin walked up, the Salarian going straight to the pod when he saw what was inside. "How fascinating he still seems to be alive." He said as he moved his Omni-Tool over the tube. "He seems to be exiting Cryo Sleep. Yes, it is confirmed there is an A.I. on board because the only way to get out of Cryo Sleep is for someone on the outside to activate it."

Without warning the lid to the Cryo Tube was forced off its hinges making Shepard's team scurry away from it and pull their weapons out as the lid landed with a loud 'thunk' somewhere behind them. The green tented armored man stood up and looked at the three armed people facing him. He was about as tall as Garrus shy by a few inches as he stood to his full height. The man in armor seemed to be studying them as they studied him, neither making action yet. Even if he didn't come off as on the attack the armored man did look ready if they did decide to attack themselves.

A voice startled the team in from of the armored man as said man calmly continued to stare at them, "It is okay Master Chief, they mean you no harm…yet."

Liam looked at the panel in front of the now lidless Cryo Tube as a blue A.I. flickered into view. He cleared his throat, "So you must be what is stopping our A.I. from scanning this ship." Shepard put his gun away motioning for the others to do the same.

The female looking A.I. looked at the Commander, "Yes, as I did not know your intentions so I denied you access until I was sure that you would mean the Chief no harm. I clearly see that you are not planning on attacking him." She replied with a humored smile then turned back to the green armored man still observing them, "Now do you plan on just standing there or are you going to plug me in?"

The green armored man finally turned away from them and to the A.I. speaking to him. He walked up and pulled out a chip from the panel, then he placed it in a slot in the back of the helmet of his armor. "Wait you just put an A.I. in your armor. Why would you do that?"

The Chief looked at the Turian and allowed the A.I. to answer instead through his helmet speakers, "I have been Master Chiefs' partner since the moment I was given to him in the war he was in till the end of it. Why would I ever harm him? Please, don't ever assume that I will ever do that. I will die to protect him and him me." The armored man nodded his head in agreement before heading out of the room not bothering to wait for them.

Garrus was the first to catch up with the human giant, "So what is your name Chief?" He asked after a couple of minuets.

His stiff reply came from the deep voice, "Sierra 117."

The Turian shook his head, "No no no, I mean birth name. Master Chief and Sierra 117 are not a birth name. Those are titles." He waited for a few minuets then realized that the tall human didn't plan on answering. "Is there something wrong with you name?"

"No."

Liam gave a choked chuckle, "So your A.I. seems special."

"Cortana is important to me."

Garrus and Liam looked at each other and followed the Chief inside another room got a chuckle from the same man that seemed emotionless when answering them when Cortana said, "Awe, I knew you cared about me." Master Chief went to grab a gun off the wall when the A.I. stopped him, "I wouldn't take that if I were you Chief. They don't have our bullets for this gun. Go for the energy weapons, they will be easier to fix with their tech."

The group of three watched as the armored human hesitantly pulled away from what looked like his weapon of choice and toward the back instead. Mordin walked over to the weapon, "Ah yes, uses normal clip not a thermal one. His A.I. was right in him not grabbing this; it is not up to the standards."

"That and it would put the Chief into question. The last thing he needs is to be questioned by a Government we don't know." The A.I. voice said as the giant human walked back in with a heavy duffle bag over his shoulder.

"May I ask how you were able to get the lid off its hinges so effortlessly?"

Mordin's answer came not from the human but his A.I. again, "You will find out later I presume. He will need to be checked up as I did a quick unfreezing. His health needs to be checked and to see if there are any burns from how fast I did unfreeze him."

"I will be fine Cortana; I have been through worse than this."

"Oh ho, you mean when you fell from the Covenant ship in air to the ground like a rock. Yes, yes you have. However those were bruises and the gelatin layer in your armor protected you from most the impact. This had to work through the armor to put you in Cryo Sleep thus lasting freezer burn. You need to be checked don't you dare fight me on this."

They saw the man physically wince when she said that out loud. "Wait you fell and survived?"

The Chief looked at Garrus as Cortana spoke again, "His armor is made to protect him and enhance his already considerable abilities. So yes, Chief survived as he is the luckiest person I have ever met. No one will ever match his luck in my book. Now I have a question?"

Liam blinked, "Yeah, what is it?"

"What do you all wear when you are on your ship? Armored up or casual?"

"Cortana." Came the warning tone from the human in the green tinted armor.

"What can you blame a woman for wanting to see you outside that armor you practically live in? I bet you look like the sexiest man alive." Liam and Garrus both choked out laughs as the armored human merely sighed and shook his head.

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To say that Karen was shocked when the armored giant walked in would be an understatement. She already knew he was human from what Shepard had sent her; she did not expect him to be just over seven feet tall, however. Catching herself she said, "My name is Dr. Chakwas I was told you needed a medical examination."

"Yes ma'am I do, where can I put my armor so that it won't be touched?" The Chief answered.

The doctor looked around, "How about near the far bed we can use that bed for your examination as well."

"That would be most appreciative ma'am."

Karen watched the giant walk over to the said bed and started the process of removing his armor, 'He is very polite. I could get used to patients like him.' She got up to go find him a cover, 'I guess I will have to use the one that I let the Turians' use. It would fit him better than any of the other ones I have.' She took it and rounded the corner to see them man in the process of taking off the black armored body suit. He was a rather good looking man with his brown military cut hair and icy blue eyes. The freckles though light were there on his pale skin, "Do you ever not wear your armor?" She asked this while closing the curtain to block the sight from the outside viewers.

The giant man turned to her, "Not very much ma'am." He placed the body suit on top of the pile of armor and took the cover from the doctor. He was clearly used to doctors looking at his bare body reguardless of gender.

She chuckled and picked up her clip board to look over what was requested of the man's A.I., "If you will please lie down we can get this over soon so you can get back to your quarters. Where did they end up putting you? If you don't mind my asking."

"The Cargo area."

Was his simple reply she got as she got to work. "While that seems uncomfortable what ever makes you happy I say."

mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh

Master Chief passed the medical exam without any problems with the exception that the human giant did have some freezer burn to which she gave him the medicine needed to take care of it. This however did not seem to hinder the man's movements even as they looked to be a bit painful. "I will be sending your results to be looked at by Professor Solus. Just letting you know ahead of time if he does come by with some questions."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"What name should I put on you medical exam?"

"Master Chief or Sierra 117 your choice."

The doctor smiled, "No name yet I see." She said as she wrote down her choice, "You will be under Chief 117 till you are comfortable giving your name."

"Thank you." The Chief said putting on his body suit.

"Shall I put in an order for some clothes for you while you are aboard the ship?"

It almost looked like he was about to say no when he sighed and answered, "My A.I. will give you what information you need."

The answer made the doctor chuckled quite amused, "I will wait for her to send what you will need then order it for you."

"How will I pay you back?" The giant asked, putting on the armor now.

Dr. Chakwas smiled, "You won't owe me anything. Just know that you will be getting your own after I get these for you. I will only be getting a couple so keep that in mind."

"Yes ma'am." The man then walked out of the room and too the elevator.

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Tali watched with wide eyes as the Chief walked into the elevator and cleared her throat, "What floor?"

"Engineering."

The Quarian felt a shiver go down her spine at the deep voice, "Well then I guess we are both going there. I am in the with the ships core, you?"

"Cargo area."

'Keelah he is tall. I didn't think humans could get that tall.' "My name is Tali'Zorah but everyone just calls me Tali." She said holding her hand out.

The giant human took her hand gently, "Master Chief."

"But everyone just called him Chief or if you were the enemy, Demon." Tali jumped and looked around for the voice, causing the voice to giggle, "I am speaking from the speaker system in his armor my name is Cortana."

She pulled away from the humans hands and placed them behind her back, "I see…you must be his A.I."

"That's right. I promise I am not an evil A.I. I mainly work with the Chief anyway so you will have no worries with me. I know of your history with A.I.s and I am not like them." Cortana said as comforting as she could.

"I know you come from a universe where A.I.s are not the same. Just give me some time and I will…try to warm up to you." Tali said as the doors opened and the two stepped out.

"Please take your time; I really don't want any trouble with anybody. So you have all the time in the world."

Tali smiled as she walked toward the core, 'She almost seems nice.'

"That was tame of you." Chief said as he walked into the Cargo area.

Cortana smiled, "Chief the Quarians have a bad history with A.I.s I have to be careful with her. The fact that she recognizes that you are not from this galaxy is a huge step for her. Give her time and she will grow to like me as an A.I. and recognize me as different from the ones she his used to."

MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH

I hope you all enjoyed.

Before you all go I have a few things I need to let you know.

1) I wanted to tell you about the few stories coming to an end soon. It is two stories Mythical Hollow, A New Type of Enemy. Mythical Hollow has about seven chapters ready to publish and the eighth one part way written. However even now I can't tell when I will be done writing it so I can't tell how long that one has got left in it. A New Type of Enemy has about two to three chapters left I think if things go the way I am hoping. As for Water Gem the first installment is complete.

I hope you all enjoy your day. : ) God bless you wonderful readers.


	2. Getting to Know Chief for Beginners

Chapter Two: Getting to Know Chief for Beginners

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Now before you all get to the story I do want to respond to the review I got.

Ferox Pretorius I want to thank you for the review. Thank you for the words you gave me. It helps me feel better about posting The Spartan Crew Member. : ) I promise I will not abandon this story. I have put a lot of time and I can tell you my husband will probably not let me. : ) I will try to write better while my Beta Reader gets the rest they need as well as what ever else they need. : )

War Wraith thank you for spotting the stuff you did. I will do my best to make the sentences flow together better. As for the first thing you spotted I have fix that and reposted the chapter. Hopefully make the fix flow if I can think of how to do that. : ) Again thank you for what you have spotted.

HaloCanon thank you for your review. I have had the size of the Forward Unto Dawn fixed. Thank you for noting that for me. As for the height of the Chief I did much research before writing that he was shorter than Garrus. In fact I can tell you when it came to writing this I did as much research as I could and still am where I am in the chapters I am ahead in writing. I promise I am doing the best with what I find. With E.D.I.'s scan of the Forward Unto Dawn this was on one of my personal touches. I want to try and be unique. With Mordin I know how smart he is so I wanted him to at least know about the wave length and have a hypothesis while he was on the ship with Garrus and Shepard.

Banana thank you for taking the time to review. With the points you pointed out I wanted to go over.

1) For Cortana letting them near Chief while he was in Cryo, he was just leaving Cryo Sleep so when Mordin and Shepard went over to Garrus that was the reason he hit the lid off the Cryo Tube.

2) Cortana did detect the Normady incoming that was why she started defrosting the big guy. What I also know from the halo game is in Halo 4 Cortana was having problems. In the game she didn't wake the Chief up until the covenant had already invaded the ship. At that point her scanners were pretty faulty because she was running on what remained of the ships power. As this wasn't the full ship even in my brain the powering system wouldn't be fully operational, scanner included.

3) As for protocalls…I have read a few ME/Halo crossovers and them using Chief to attack the boarding party. Because of that I did not want to do the same thing. So to be a little unique I did not have Chief attack Shepards party. Instead I had him watching them. I also got the help of a friend of mine who knows more about Halo than I do, about protocols, and more. They helped by pointing out that some protocol dictates that if the other party is boarding a damaged vessel like the Forward Unto Dawn. This would put Chief at the need to determine if the party is an enemy. They point out that in the Halo 4 Chief had to ask if the Elites knew they were on the same side where Cortana replied that they probably didn't get the memo yet. Also there was the fact that Cortana did send out an SOS asking for help so there was no telling who could respond to it.

4) …Here I am not going to lie. While I am an avid Halo Player I have only played a little of Mass Effect but have watched my husband play the game many times. My knowledge is limited to what I have seen in the games. As for the books that are out I have only read a couple of the Halo books. I am not a tech head. I do the best with what research I can find when I know I need to look things up.

5) For the reason I had Cortana not letting Chief take the UNSC weapons. I answer that with Cortana saying that it would but Master Chief into question with the ME government. This was also a call I made because I am planning on using Master Chief's smarts and adaptability to fix the plasma based weapons with what he can get in the Mass Effect universe. Doing this also allowed me to not have the Chief to be lugging around a bunch of weapons and ammunition. From what my friend says there is only so much the Chief could carry, even in his Spartan armor.

6) How they guess the ship was from another galaxy is just how I wanted to write it. I didn't want to over complicate things by going into too much description.

7) How E.D.I. knew the ship was ahead by 404 years by just a scan. This was another call I made to help with moving the story along as well as my way of letting the you wonderful readers know the difference in the year difference between the two games. I'm sorry if this didn't come out the way I intended.

8) For attempting to breach into classified UNSC files and database. This was why Cortana stopped E.D.I. with the firewall. She was not just going to allow an unknown A.I. scope through the systems. I don't know too much about A.I. but I know Cortana's personality. And that certainly would not fly, not even in my brain.

So I hope I answered your concerns. : ) I again thank you for taking time to point this out to me.

Guest Review Thank you for taking the time to ask this question. I forgot to mention when this takes place in ME2.

dekuton Thank you for taking the time to review The Spartan Crew Member. As for your concerns.

1) I will try to be care about the redundancies.

2) I have fixed the large and unknown ship part. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I would hate to read that too.

3) As for them knowing that the Forward Unto Dawn is from another dimension you are right in your assessment. As I point out to one of the other reviewers it is something I want to get out of the way. I know it takes a bit out of the story and I am sorry that it does but I really wanted to get past that part.

4) As for the scan part and the scene you laid out. That was my way of telling you wonderful readers the amount of years difference between the two universes. As for your scene I would add that in but it would mess with the flow I have in the chapter. So I'm sorry I can't add that. Thank you for taking the time to tell me how I could have done that.

5) As for the Cryo Pods and them knowing it is human. I added the part of the English I forgot to add that thank you for pointing that out to me. As for how the Cryo Pods play into mass effect. I had no idea about the Andromeda Initiative. I am relatively new to the ME games. The only game I have played part way through is ME2.

6) For the weapons. I had it to where Chief took the energy and plasma weapons because I wanted to use this to allow him to adapt and use the ME universe materials. This is also a way for the Master Chief to not be lugging around a bunch of weapons and ammo.

7) For Chiefs armor…ug I can't believe I forgot about that. Unfortunately I can't fix that in The Spartan Crew Member. I am that far ahead. In fact I can tell you at this moment I have at least thirty-three chapters written.

Thank you for taking the time to review my story. : ) It was much appreciated.

End review replies:

This chapter is when I started to do research for parts I didn't know right away. Whether it was for Halo or Mass Effect. Let me tell you, it was very interesting doing my research. I learned a lot, and I am hoping I wrote well. There was so much and it was just slightly overwhelming with all the possibilities I could do. : ) Despite its overwhelming feeling this research really did help with this chapter. Also with the help of my Beta Reader, werecat1 who is a bit Halo fan, they helped me get some of the information I use in later chapters look even better. If that says anything about how long I have been working on The Spartan Crew Member. I mean it has been absolutely crazy where I've gone with it. It blows my mind.

A big thanks to my hubby for looking this over for me while my Beta Reader is recovering from their exhaustion and more that is going on. Please keep praying for my Beta Reader. They are going through a tough time.

Anyway sorry for ranting on like that, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and have a great day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Tali smiled as she walked toward the core, 'She almost seems nice.'_

 _"That was tame of you." Chief said as he walked into the Cargo area._

 _Cortana smiled, "Chief the Quarians have a bad history with A.I.s I have to be careful with her. The fact that she recognizes that you are not from this galaxy is a huge step for her. Give her time and she will grow to like me as an A.I. and recognize me as different from the ones she his used to."_

 _Now:_

Liam sat in his room debating on whether or not to go and talk to Master Chief. The armored man was a complete mystery to him. Not only did he come from a universe that was 404 years ahead in time, by Mordin's now 'confirmed' calculations of course, but he also was keeping his name to himself. Most people didn't see a problem just giving their first name especially if there was no way to even figure out anything about them, however Chief seemed to have a higher value on his name than normal. At least that what he got from what he read about his medical exam from Dr. Chakwas and Professor Solus's notes.

The first thing that caught his mind was that his skeletal structure was virtually unbreakable. Then there was the increased white blood count and denser tissue. And even then there was that implant that was found that apparently boosted muscle growth. Goodness he could only imagine the pain that the Chief went through, what made it even worse was it apparently had to be done to him when he was very young age by military standards. He guessed it was all good in theory because Master Chief did get the benefits of better eye sight than normal, faster healing, and a 300% increase in reaction time; that apparently helped in his memory, creativity, and intelligence. His problem was how can anyone do this to a _child_ , if he had heard about this he would have been furious. Especially when Mordin said in his notes that the Chief was lucky to even survive the enhancements. But what Karen said in her notes was that there was also a decrease in sexual function… Maybe he didn't want to know all the details. Hell, even if he asked he probably wouldn't even be able an answer right now anyway, he had to win the Chiefs trust first. That sign would probably be being given his name, even then he would have to be sure that he didn't share Chief's name with everyone.

Now that he thought about it no parent in their right mind would allow their child to go through this willingly so whoever did this to the Master Chief would have to pull something underhanded. In Shepard's mind he came up with kidnapping, tricking parents, blackmailing, threatening, as well as several others. He grit his teeth as he growled to himself, 'I would have killed them myself if I was there. Ug, I hate when children are experimented on.' He leaned back in his chair letting it spin slowly as he covered his eyes. 'To make it worse what I can come up with why they did it was the war that was going on. It could very easily have made them get desperate. Desperate people can do stupid things to ensure their survival.'

It suddenly hit Liam, 'Of course his name is probably the only thing he got to keep from his childhood if my theory of the kidnapping is the way they went. That would make so much sense why he wouldn't just tell anyone what it is.' He got up and headed away from the console, 'I got to learn at least one thing about him even if it is something insignificant. I don't care what it is.' When he reached the elevator he watched as Miranda stormed out irritated, 'What. The. Hell?' He shook his head and got on the elevator going down to engineering, 'I get the feeling I will have to have a talk with her later.' When he reached engineering he made his way instantly to the cargo area that held the Normandy's newest resident. The moment he walked in he already knew that the Chief was aware he was there, even when he didn't show any outward signs, "Hey, do you have a spare moment to talk?"

The armored man walked over to bench taking a gun with him and started on breaking it down and putting it back together. Shepard sat next to him feeling shorter than he actually was, "I know you don't talk much but…I was curious from what you know now of our universe what have you found that was different from your own?"

Not many would notice it but there was a slight falter in the taller mans movements as he was reassembling the gun so he knew he had caught the giants humans interest, Liam wasn't Commander Shepard without a reason. He settled into silence as he the let the man think his question over, "Your alien races."

"What about them? If you don't mind my asking."

Once again Liam let the man think it over. "There are more known than there are in my universe and you seem to get along with them."

'Straight and too the point, definitely raised to be a good soldier. Ug, please don't tell me my theory is correct. Maybe a bit of a loner, I will have to have a talk with him about that before I take him on one of the missions.' "I take it that aliens are what you were fighting during your war." All he got was a crisp nod as his answer; Liam was not complaining because at least he was answering the questions. "If you don't mind I am curious to see or even hear about your aliens. They sound different from what I am used to growing up. Maybe you and I could do this fully alone that way you don't feel pressured to share more than you are willing."

The Chief looked at him having finished putting the gun back together once again. "Come on John, at least he isn't demanding too much from you. Unlike some people he is at least giving you space to take your time."

"And you trust him?"

"More than some people on this ship. From what I read about him he is about as lucky as you are. However, unlike you instead of going through all that pain he was actually dead and then brought back to life. If there is anyone you can relate to on this ship it is him." Master Chief nodded to answer both Cortana and Shepard, as his speakers turned back on again if he decided he answers needed to be verbal.

Liam smiled tapping his fingers against his cheek, "So before I got here I ran into Miranda, I get the feeling that she was here." The Chief nodded again causing the man next to him to shake his head. "I should have known. Let me guess guns and any information about where you come from?" Another nod. "I will talk to her for you, the last thing you need is for her to be bothering you ever chance she gets."

"Yeah, she wasn't very happy when he wouldn't answer her questions and destroying her bugs." Cortana said through Chiefs speakers.

The red headed commander sighed, 'I see that there is going to be some tension between those two and here I thought it was going to be Tali and Chief.' He stood up, "Thank you for the talk."

"Really that is all you came here for?" Cortana teased.

Master Chief gave a warning sound only for Liam to stop him, "No, it's okay. My main mission was to learn at least one thing about you. Even if it was something insignificant. That is why I asked the question I did. It is on neutral ground and leaves you open to answer how you will. Maybe later I will ask more narrowed questions but I will wait till I have more of your trust before I do that." The commander smiled at the armored man, "Well you should get some food; I do believe you have had nothing to eat yet today."

Chief nodded watching the commander walk out of the room, "Well that is certainly interesting. He gains the trust of his people before he pries too much. He was nice about it too, I get the feeling that you and him will get along nicely."

"We will see Cortana."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Liam walked into the ships core walking straight to Tali as the Quarian turned to him, "Shepard."

"Hey Tali, do you have a minute?"

"Of course." The two walked closer to the core.

"I was curious about your opinion about Chief."

Tali thought about the question, "He is quiet but he seems friendly enough. I guess it is really his…"

The light green eyed human put a hand on her shoulder, "I know." The Quarian sighed and her shoulders slumped, "I know it will take you some getting used to with him having an A.I. Just know that I am always on your side. At the moment all of us are a little…bit differing in opinions about it…her."

"That's just it." Liam cocked his head to the side, "I have only spoken to her once and…I almost feel like I could get along with her. That maybe she is more human than the ones I am used to. Does that make any sense?"

The human commander chuckled, "Yeah, I get that feeling too."

"But the Chief…" Tali turned toward him, "I feel for him. Only seeing him once and I feel like he is lonely, even with his A.I. and everyone around him. It is almost unsettling."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I guess it is the way he acts. He never actually shows loneliness because he seems to need to know what is going on around him. But his body language is strangely silent. On the Migrant Fleet if one holds back their body language it either means they have something to hide or…I don't know…something is wrong. But he is not Quarian so I am hesitant to even treat this like I normally would."

"Give him time Tali. Maybe it is the fact that he is no longer in his universe. However, I do see your point, the way he acts like he his holding people at arms length away from but still keeping an eye on everyone at the same time." Liam said leaning against the railing.

Tali sighed, "I am glad I am not the only one seeing it."

"How about I let you get back to work. I have some…thinking to do. And a perp whose name starts with a M to talk to." Liam said with a smile.

The Quarian giggled, "Yes, you sound like you have quite the day ahead of you."

Shepard walked to the door and stopped just as he neared it, "Hey Tali?" Said female looked at him, "I know you have a lot on your plate but…do you mind helping me keep an eye on him. The last thing I want is for him to feel isolated."

Tali smiled, "I would be happy to. Maybe spending time with him will help me with his A.I."

The human chuckled, "Just make sure to keep the questions on neutral ground for now. The last thing we need is for him to shut down on us."

"I completely agree. I think Garrus would also like to get to know him. Maybe they could also find familiar ground."

Liam laughed in agreement, "Just so long as all of us coordinate and don't overwhelm him."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Garrus walked into the elevator just as Commander Shepard walked out, not that he noticed with his data pad in front of his face. He pushed the button to go to Deck three for the crew quarters. 'Hm, interesting. Maybe I need some input from someone that doesn't do what I do. Gah, why is this so difficult? What about the Chief? He seemed intelligent. Maybe he could help me out seeing as everyone else is occupied with their jobs. Yeah, that is a great idea.' He turned to buttons again pushing Deck four for engineering. 'If he can't help surly his A.I. could. Yes, sounds like a plan to me.' The elevator dinged telling him that he had reached the first stop. He got off and walked to the Main Battery. Pausing in his step he looked up and nearly face palmed when he realized he just got the Main Battery door, "Damn it. I didn't mean to get off on my floor." The Turian then turned back around and headed to the elevator and he almost walked into the tall human he was looking for and got on the elevator. Within two seconds he realized that the one he was searching for had just gone off on his floor and quickly jumped off the elevator before the door closed. "Hey Chief."

The tall human stopped just before entering the mess hall and looked at him as the Turian caught up. "Hey, I was wondering if I could get your input on a problem I am having?" When the armored human nodded he turned back to the mess hall to get the food that the Commander had mentioned. At that moment Garrus realized just how hungry he was when his stomach growled. Amused he chuckled out, "Well, I guess it is a good thing that I am here then."

Cortana giggled, "You are quite a funny alien my friend."

Garrus cocked his head to the side, not used to A.I.s, A.K.A. a computer program so to speak, being so full of emotion. Realizing how long he took to reply he quickly said, "Oh, sorry about that."

The A.I. just laughed again, "Don't worry about it. I got it all the time back home."

The Turian chuckled, "I don't doubt that. So finally coming out of your cage hu?" The Chief shrugged and moved up in the line as Garrus attached his data pad to his side, "Still not much of a talker yet hu?" The Turian chuckled again, "That's fair I guess."

Cortana giggled, "You know, you are an interesting race of aliens."

"Yeah, how so?"

Garrus could almost feel the smile in the A.I.s voice, "You kind of remind me of Chief and how he was raised."

That caught both Master Chief's and Garrus's attention as the Turian asked with what looked like a smile as he asked the same question as before, "Yeah, how so?"

"Well you both have strong military backgrounds and you were both raised in it."

The alien chuckled, "I bet, so you would say the Chief about had the life of a Turian hu? Wow, who would have thought? A human with a Turian likeness. That one I will tell and no one will believe me." The two moved up in the line, putting Chief in the front as he ordered in his deep voice, "I don't think I will ever get used to hearing that." Master Chief looked at him cocking his head to the side to let the Turian know that he had a question. "Oh, you know the human with a deep voice like yours. I'm just not used to it."

The giant human nodded and took the tray from Mess Sergeant Gardner, "Thank you."

"Ah, don't worry about it, it's my job. And boy do I enjoy my job."

Garrus chuckled, "That you do."

The man chuckled, "The usual?" He asked he already got ready to serve the Turian.

"Every time." The Turian turned around with his tray and was shocked that the Chief had waited for him. "Oh, sorry I thought you would have gone to find a table already." The Chief shrugged again as this personal A.I. giggled. The Turian shook his head, "Ah anyway, let's just go find a seat. Maybe then you could help me with my problem."

The tall human nodded and the two preceded to the empty table in the corner. As the two sat down Garrus pulled out his Data Pad and handed it to the Chief explaining his problem. "I was hopping some unused eyes could help me." Afterwards Garrus left Master Chief to puzzle it out. Cortana explained in better detail what the main battery did and how it worked thus allowing the Chief to have an unbiased yet knowledgeable mind as he looked at the diagram.

While he puzzled it out Garrus got a good look at the Chief while he didn't have his helmet on. 'Defiantly human. Though his eyes are a bit unnerving. What an unusual eye color. Maybe…' "Hey Chief?" The human looked at him with his sharp icy blue eyes, "I was curious do humans usually have that kind of eye color or did it happen through some science experiment?"

Cortana giggled, "He was actually born with them. Trust me you are not the first one that has made that comment."

Garrus chuckled, "Well then I guess you are lucky."

"How so?"

The Turian was shocked for a moment at hearing the deep voice again. He quickly got himself back together, "Oh ah…oh, your eyes being the color they are. It must be rare to have them that shade of blue. That is all I meant."

The Chief nodded then looked back at the Data Pad, turning the picture to look at the battery at a different angle. Garrus made sure not to voice what he had done wanting to keep the Chiefs decision unbiased. "Can I ask you questions about your universe or is that off limits?"

Cortana answered again, "I don't see a problem with that. Just keep in mind that we may not answer all of them."

Garrus laughed, "Well of course got to keep the different universe in suspense right." The A.I. giggled equally amused, "Okay, first let's see…how about…oh yes. Have you ever seen or researched the way of different Aliens life style?"

The Chief answer was simple, "One."

"How different was it?"

Master Chief tried to figure out how to answer the question when Cortana steeped in for him, "Well I guess the one difference I saw was their different training styles. I am very sure that you train differently as well."

Garrus chuckled, "Of course we do. And Chief, if you are interested maybe you and I could train together. Maybe learn from one another. You can't tell me that you didn't get trained differently."

"Oh ho that he did. He is a Spartan after all."

"What is your meaning of Spartan? I know of the original Spartans from reading up on human history but what make him different." The Turians asked leaning forward, "Of course if that is classified I completely understand."

Cortana giggled, "Well most of what makes him his different version of a Spartan is classified and probably best left to not to know. Seeing as it could probably be easily replicated here but all in all they were a very much the most cohesive group you could ever come across. They had trained so much together that they could predict each others moves. It was absolutely amazing to see."

The Turian closed his eyes, "I see, I am sorry for your loss."

"Don't be." Garrus looked up shocked, "They are simply M.I.A. a Spartan never dies."

Garrus closed his eyes again, "That is a great way to look at it. M.I.A. hu? I wish we Turian's would see it that way sometimes."

"This is your problem." The Turian looked at the Data Pad as the Chief pointed out part of the diagram.

Garrus sighed losing his smile, "Of course it was that simple. I guess now the only problem would be getting if fixed while at the same time as making sure the area around it doesn't just go crazy while that happens."

"I am sure the Chief could do it if he wasn't wearing his armor. He could fit better than you could. No offence."

The Turian shook his head, "None taken, do you mind helping? You seem to be strong enough and even just knowledgeable enough to know what you were doing."

Master Chief thought about what he need to get done back in the Cargo Area then shook his head, "I don't mind."

"Let me guess, I just give you something to do?" When the Chief didn't respond Garrus chuckled, "I knew it. Hey, if you ever need to do something come to me anytime. If I have something I need help with I will always take help where I can get it. Hell, I bet even Tali would enjoy some help in the ships core if you knew what you were doing."

The Turian audibly heard speaker that Cortana was speaking out of turn off and went silent he shut up letting the two have the own conversation as the Chief put in an ear piece, "Think about it Chief. On this ship you won't be able to go into Cryo Sleep. Thus all that time that you usually sleep through is open to you. You could use this time to get to know the crew or even find a better way to spend your time while you are awake. John this will be good for you. You know I won't always be around right." When the Chief heard that he sighed and bowed his head he could feel his heart breaking a little just hearing that. Garrus wanted to ask what was wrong but stayed silent. "I am an A.I. my life span if very limited. I just want to make sure you are not alone when I am gone. And these people have been very good to you ever since you got on this ship. I can tell that they look out for their own. I bet they would do everything in their power to make sure that you are taken care of when I am gone. Look at Garrus, he is doing his best to befriend you and you two just met. Here you will be able to learn so much and your purpose has been reborn. You get to protect everyone again. Back in our universe you would be trying to figure out how to live life without war. Please Chief, get to know some of them. So far I am liking Tali and Garrus, even Shepard is good to you. Try…for me big man."

With a sigh the Chief answered both their questions, "Okay."

Garrus looked up shocked at how broken Master Chief's voice sounded, even if it was only a little bit. 'What the hell did she say to him?'

"Thank you Chief, you will be making me a very happy woman knowing that you will be in good hands. Just be sure to keep an eye on Miranda till you think you can trust her, okay." The Chief nodded.

"So um since we finished eating do you want to get started on the main battery or do you want to take a tour of the ship first." Garrus asked, trying to perk up the Chief's spirits.

"Battery…then tour."

The Turian nodded and got up holding his hand out to Master Chief to help him up as a gesture, knowing full well that he couldn't lift the weight of that armor. "Alright the battery is this way." The Chief got up without taking his hand, 'Okay, maybe I will work on our friendship first then I can help him up. Yeah, sounds like a plan.' Garrus thought to himself pulling his hand back to his side.


	3. That Wasn't A Command

Chapter Three: That Wasn't A Command

Here is the next chapter for you all.

A big thanks to my Hubby for looking this over for me while my Beta Reader is getting better.

Reviews responses:

Ferox Pretorius Thank you for your review. I am glad the second chapter looks better. Believe it or not I own the First Strike but have not read it yet. I believe the one I read was the one about when chief first got picked to be in the Spartan program. I can't recall the title of the book but I do remember being on the edge of my seat reading it. I am sure I will get to the First Strike when I can. Thank you so much for the time on the armor that will be very helpful in chapters when I mention it.

ArchAngel319 I am glad you liked the chapter. This chapter to me was fun to write. : )

Kieran Johnson (AKA HaloCanon) Thank you for the advice you gave me. It was very helpful. Especially when you and War Wraith pointed out the size of the Dawn. : ) I am so glad I was able to get that fixed. Thank you so much for taking the time to review.

Second review:

Thank you for the sizes of the ships. I promise when I get to the part where I can use this information I will do as much research as I can. : )

Hey Thank you for taking the time to review The Spartan Crew Member.

1) Height. At the time I did my research that is what I was able to come up with the heights. Unfortunately I am unable to fix the height as it would mess with the flow of the chapter. I am sorry I am unable to fix that.

2) Weapons. The reason I had Chief only take the plasma and energy based weapons is so I could use Master Chief's adaptability to fixing those weapons with Mass Effect materials. Also, as my friend helped me with this part, I didn't want Master Chief to be lugging around a bunch of ammo. Even with his armor there is only so much he could carry.

3) Mordin. I wanted to used Mordin's intelligence. This is why I had him have a theory while he was on the ship. I am trying the best I can with what I know. I am sorry if I didn't portray the use of his intelligence correctly. (On a side note: that is rather strange that humanity would only use Mass Effect method of traveling. I never thought about till now but now that does seem strange.)

4) Size of the Dawn. Hm, the measurements that you put here I could actually use in a later chapter. As well as the difference between both universes and the size of the Forward Unto Dawn means to each universe. Thank you for putting that there. This is something I can really use.

Guest …: ) Seeing your question had me grinning like a fool. It really made my day reading it. Cheered me right up. I love your question; I don't find it silly at all. Now to answer your question. Hm, if I had to pick people that I would set Master Chief up with: Miranda (once they got over the whole he's from another universe and new tech issue), I think Kasumi would be interesting (but I am sure that she is going to be faithful to that one guy she's in love with, when I played that part in the game I had a idea that she was pretty loyal to him as her man), Tali because I think that they would be absolutely adorable (and the fact that they both wear full body covers, both for different reason of course, it just seems fitting in my mind) and Kelly would be cute with him. I agree who wouldn't be curious.

Now there is a reason I found you question so great was because I do plan on pairing him off. I'm a romantic at heart. I love seeing happy couples. In most of my fics I won't lie there will usually be a pairing there. : )

Mandalore the Freedom : ) Thank you for taking the time to give me the advice you have given me. : )

1) I didn't think about that. I will start to italicize the thoughts. Thank you for pointing that out to me.

2) The spacing of the paragraphs I will try to do my best at. I did got through and I think I saw what you were talking about so if I am correct then I will defiantly to my best to space them better.

3) I am actually doing my best for him to have the level of distrust with the Cerberus Crew. For example where I am at Chief has never once talked to Jacob. We all know how Miranda is so she will be there time to time. Hehe I plan on him frustrating her for a long while. I like the idea of him being a challenge to her, lol.

4) For Jack and Chief…let's just say that is an interesting road for me where I have them at the moment. But you have a very good point. Though in the same situation as children they defiantly had different outcomes as the after effect.

5) (cue grin) I love Tali and the thought of the two of them together…in my mind they are perfect for each other. If there was ever a true game crossover between ME and Halo I would want the two them together.

Thank you again for your review. It has defiantly helped. : )

End Review responses:

I hope you all enjoy and have a God filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"So um since we finished eating do you want to get started on the main battery or do you want to take a tour of the ship first." Garrus asked, trying to perk up the Chief's spirits._

 _"Battery…then tour."_

 _The Turian nodded and got up holding his hand out to Master Chief to help him up as a gesture, knowing full well that he couldn't lift the weight of that armor. "Alright the battery is this way." The Chief got up without taking his hand, 'Okay, maybe I will work on our friendship first then I can help him up. Yeah sounds like a plan.' Garrus thought to himself pulling his hand back to his side._

 _Now:_

Chief placed the piece back in as Garrus came onto the radio, "Thanks Chief, you are a real trooper. It's nice to know that I can call on someone to help me when fixing something is a two person job. Everyone else is just so busy with their own jobs that getting help is hard to come by."

The giant human pulled himself over the railing before pulling off the helmet, "What about Shepard?"

The Turian shook his head, "No, he is the commander. I could never ask him to do this. And I say this even as he is one of my closest friends."

"Friends?"

"You know people you are close to that are not family related. Unless you see it differently." Garrus nervously chuckled out. Master Chief started to put on his own armor pieces deciding not to answer, 'So they were like family. That's not a bad relationship with your comrade in arms.' "I wish I could call Liam a brother but we act more like really good friends."

"Hey, really good friends is better than nothing." Cortana chimed in just as the Chief's helmet clicked shut. "I have to ask how many of the crew know I exist?"

Garrus thought about it, "Well I don't think many do. Actually they heard about the possibility of you but not all know for a fact that you exist. Mordin and I never said anything. But I would still be careful and let only specific people know about your existence. For example if we are near Quarian's definitely don't let yourself be known. Over all I think you should just keep yourself a secret. I am sure Liam will only let specific people know." Garrus looked at the fully armored human, "So about that tour. Let's start at the bottom and go up."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

As the two walked into the elevator Garrus said, "We do have a Deck 5 but that is only our Hangar. Nothing else is down there so we are not even going to waste our time. We are going to start at Deck 4 where you should be most acquainted to if you leave your cave."

"He has not seeing as Miranda kind of visited him not too long after he got himself situated."

"Oh…Miranda. Yes, I saw that outcome happening. No wonder she was throwing a small hissy fit." Garrus chuckled out pushing the button for Deck 4, "She got denied something she really wanted."

"Exactly. Chief wouldn't answer her questions." Cortana giggled out.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Tali watched as Garrus gave Master Chief the tour around the ship, 'Well would you look at that. We don't have to ask him to try after all.' The Turian seemed comfortable leading the Spartan around explaining happily about the different places around the Normandy. "Hey."

The two looked over at her as they got close. Garrus gave his version of a smile, "Hey Tali. Just showing the newbie around mind if he gets a look inside?"

Tali giggled, "Not at all. Come on in, mind you head Chief." She got a crisp nodded from the human as he went in.

"Oh, Tali no concern for me?" Garrus asked jokingly.

"Not at all, you should after all know to watch your head around here anyway."

Cortana giggled, "Don't worry too much over Chief he is very used to being too tall for many places."

"I don't doubt it." Tali looked at Master Chief looking past the conversation, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not used to seeing a core look like that."

"Well I agree it does take some getting used to." Tali agreed she took a steadying breath, "Are you interested in learning about it?"

"The Chief is always up to the task of learning something new. Actually could I ask you a question?" Cortana asked.

Tali sighed but answered, "I…can answer what I can."

Cortana giggled a little lowering her voice as the two that worked with Tali walked in, "Well are you able to teach Chief to hack? Most the time I do the hacking but there will be times that he will need to step forward and do it himself if I am otherwise occupied."

The Chief rolled his right shoulder as the A.I. talked but didn't say anything. The Quarian nodded, "I would be happy to but I am not the best at hacking. I can however help attach an Omni-tool that can help with the hacking. Shepard however is a hacker he can teach you what you need to know."

"Thank you, ma'am." Master Chief said with a slight nod before walking out of the room.

Garrus sighed, "I don't like the way he reacted to what she said."

"I don't either. I may not like what she is but…he is attached her. You can tell she would never hurt or betray him. They are almost like family. I wish all of her kind were like her." Tali agreed crossing over her chest, "I think something is happening but I couldn't guess what it was to be honest. Her type of personality of her people are not the ones I am used to dealing with."

The Turian sighed, "I hope everything works out. You can tell he is going through something mental. One bad thing happening will leave him…I don't know…broken but he isn't going to just break down. I think he will act out somehow I don't know him well enough to guess how he would though."

"Can you blame him? He just found out he is in another universe and from what we heard…he is the last of his kind. Even human, what ever he went through the people he worked with they had a bond that can never be broken." Tali said, "Go I think he is waiting to get the rest of his tour."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Tali walked into the cargo area a few days later with a new Omni-tool, "Um…I mentioned about…helping in attaching an Omni-tool. If you want to get this done now I am free…I mean I don't want to…impede on what you value as a secret from the rest of us."

Master Chief motioned her to come in as he crushed the last of Miranda's bugs, "I trust you enough." The Quarian's heart fluttered hearing that, "Unlike some people here I know you would never share information that is sensitive to a criminal organization."

"Oh never…Um, my I ask questions specific to getting this applied. It attaches to any kind of armor I just have to adjust it to do so." The giant human nodded and she sat next to him nervously. "If I seem jumpy it is because I am not used to being next to…tall humans."

Cortana giggled, "Don't worry. Most of the men were skittish around the Chief. As they knew how he was made and they knew that Spartan could kick their asses any day of the week, even without their armor"

Tali giggled, "I can see that happening to be honest." Putting the Omni-tool to the side for now she took Chief's right arm he offered running her hand over the armor, "So let me start with this question what is your suit doing for you right now? Is it like mine where it helps me stay healthy or is it doing something else or even both?"

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Shepard walked in and smiled at the sight of Tali fixing the Omni-tool to Master Chief's right arm. The giant human seemed to be watching intrigued as she did so. "Okay, so I think that will do it. Just let me know if you ever need this fixed I will be happy to do it. Oh…" She turned and grabbed another Omni-too holding it out to him, "This is a second one I asked for. I made it so these two connect and only one can be activated by any password you set. This one is for when…you are not wearing your armor." Chief thought about it for a few milliseconds then went about unattaching his right arms armor, "You…want to do this now?"

Liam continued to smile as he backed into a corner to wait his turn, 'It is good to see him and Tali getting along. Some part of me said that they would even though I thought they were going to have to work at it. I am glad I am wrong.'

Once the armor was off there was only a black jumpsuit sleeve on his right arm and the rest of his armor still on. Tali held the Omni-tool near his wrist, "Um…will you be…wearing the body suit…"

"You're right." Chief's deep voice said as he got up then looked at her, "I need to get changed so we can get this done."

"Right." She put the Omni-tool on the bench and almost screamed when she spotted Liam, "Shepard! When did you get here?"

"I've been here for a little while. Come on how about we both give him space." The two walked out into the hallway, "So how do you think he is doing?"

"I think he is adjusting well to be honest. He even…" Her heart fluttered again as she played with wrung her fingers, "…trusted me to attach the Omni-tool to his armor. It is a sacred thing to ask that on the Migrant Fleet if it is not a professional but I am not."

Liam rubbed her arm, "Hey, that is a good sign. That means he is doing good for someone who is used to going into Cryo Sleep."

He started to walk away, "Wait, I thought you wanted to talk to him?"

"I do." The Commander stopped then said with a smile, "However getting him out fitted with an Omni-tool is part of what I wanted to talk to him about. You did mention I could help him hack."

Tali giggled, "Yes, that I did." She pulled up her Omni-tool reading up on the new information that the Core was going through. She looked as the door opened then back at her Omni-tool for the time realizing nearly forty-five minuets had gone by when she was reading, "That was quicker than I thought."

"I know the body suit like the back of my hand." The chief said. Tali was shocked he looked good with a black t-shirt, jeans and boots. His ice blue eyes and dark brown hair looked good as well. He was pale but that was normal considering he never took off the armor. And she could admit she like that idea of the light freckles on his cheeks, "I should warn you I still hold my strength even without my armor."

"Of course." Tali said.

"Chief." Both the human and Quarian looked at the commander who had come back down smiling, "When you get a chance I would like to talk to you about hacking."

"Sir!"

"That wasn't a command. I only want you to come if you are interested." Liam said before walking away.

MHMHMHMHMHMHMH

Okay before you all go I do have to say something. After reading through this chapter I found a mistake I can't fix without ruining the flow of the story. I truly apologize for this. When I first wrote this chapter, which was a while ago, I thought the Master Chief was going to need two different Omni-tools. Later on this mistake is again used. So…I am very sorry for just now spotting this mistake. But like I said if I try to take it out I will ruin the flow of the story in those parts.

I hope you all have a great day God filled day. : )


	4. Trusting Somewhat

Chapter Four: Trusting Somewhat

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Reply:

Kieran Johnson Thank you for your review. I am glad I am getting MC character down. He is a little hard to write for but I am defiantly trying my best. : )

kingslops Amen to that. Tali has such a cute romance.

Knight5946 When I first spotted I panicked and tried to find a way to fix it. So thank you so much for your kind words.

Ferox Pretorius Thank you for your review. As you know I did so much research for this story. The height was one of the things I looked up. : ) Thank you again for taking the time to review.

Miltonius Thank you for the understanding. I will do my best not to rush too much of the story. After all I do need to let bonds get stronger. : )

Mandalore the Freedom Reply to your points:

1) …crap I forgot about her hacking the Geth. Thank you for pointing that out I will see if I can fix that but I get the feeling that I wont be able to without messing up the flow of the paragraph that it is in.

2) As for Master Chief's fighting abilities you will get to see them soon. I wrote the part where he fights the best I can. I do hope it plays out well for you all so you all can enjoy it. : ) And that is where I leave that explanation.

3) He will in fact study Biotics so he can combat them. It will take a bit for you to see this chapter but it will happen where I show that he does this.

4) Miranda and Chief…I am planning out a scene to show Chief talking with Miranda. You are very much correct she would love to test herself against Chief. I actually can't wait to write that scene now. : ) It is going to be so interesting.

5) I do take the critiques to help the chapter if I can. So everything you all say I do take into consideration when I go about fixing the chapter.

Thank you so much for taking the time to review. : )

Guest That would be a fan art that would be funny to see. I can just imagine the look on Chief's face. For a man with little expression I can see that surprising even him. As far as the romance for Chief I do plan on being realistic. There is no way Chief would know how to romance a woman nor would he begin to understand his feeling right away. So trust me when it comes to his romance I will be taking my time the best I can when developing it. : ) Thank you for you wonderful review.

OfficerDonNZ I plan on taking my time with the Chief romance to the best of my ability. With the route I am taking it, it is best that he get the time he needs. Thank you for taking the time to review.

End replies:

I hope you all enjoy the chapter and have a God filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Chief." Both the human and Quarian looked at the commander who had come back down smiling, "When you get a chance I would like to talk to you about hacking."_

 _"Sir!"_

 _"That wasn't a command. I only want you to come if you are interested." Liam said before walking away._

 _Now:_

Master Chief walked around without his armor for the next day to try it out. He already didn't like it. He felt exposed and vulnerable on a ship he was supposed to feel safe on. "Hey Chief." Blue eyes looked at the Turian, "Looking good without the armor. It is good to breath every once in a while, yeah?"

The Chief shrugged and waited for Cortana to say something only to realize he left her in the Cargo Bay with his armor. "I don't feel safe."

Garrus smiled, "Hey, don't sweat it. I felt the same way when I first started to work with Shepard when we first met. You will get used to it. How about try carrying a gun; I know it made me feel better."

"Would Commander Shepard let me?"

"Yes, without a problem no less. He wants you to feel comfortable and if having a small firearm makes you feel safe by all means." Garrus said handing him a gun Chief had never used before so he looked it over, "Take this. I have a feeling your collection is only what you came with. I took the liberty of getting you one of our guns. I have more waiting if you want them. I like to have back ups, you never know when things can go wrong with weapons."

Chief didn't laugh but you could tell he was amused, "I hold that same standard with my weapons."

"Good. So start with this and we can get you set up more later. Who knows maybe it will do you some good to have multiple types."

Chief thought back on what Cortana said about trusting a handful of the crew with some of the weapons he had brought on, "I could teach you, so long as it is supervised." Garrus looked at him shocked, "Cortana has made a point to me that I should not be the only one able to use my guns. She suggested people I know I could trust to a point."

Garrus closed his mouth, "I…thank you. For trusting me I mean."

"You, Tali, and Commander Shepard are the only ones I feel I can trust right now with my guns."

"Hey." Ice blue eyes looked at Garrus in the eye, "Don't worry you will learn to trust the others in time. I am sure we won't be the only three you will trust with something like this later on. I know this will take time."

"Thank you, for the gun."

"Anytime. You need to feel comfortable, what better way than to show you a gun you can find on the ground on any battle field?" Garrus asked humorously, "Now how about we eat? I haven't eaten all day and I can imagine you didn't either with your discomfort." The Chief nodded and followed the Turian to get some food, "How does the Omni-tool fit?"

"Tali'Zorah made sure it was comfortable. I haven't had time to try it out yet."

"I can give you a few pointers if you are interested. They do more than hack."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

When Liam once again saw the Chief, he was working with Garrus on his Omni-tool. He walked over with his food as the two talked, "And this here helps you understand other languages better. This way you won't be left in the dark when you are talking to other people you can't understand."

"Ah Garrus, how did I know I would find you here this late eating."

The Turian chuckled as Liam sat down and Chief turned off the Omni-tool, "Well you know how I get when I am working. If I don't set my alarm I forget I need to eat sometimes."

"I see Garrus got you a gun Chief. Have you handled a gun like this?"

"Yes sir. It is much like the pistol from home it just uses different rounds." The giant human answered.

"I take you will be taking it apart to learn its functions."

"That is what I was taught sir."

"You don't need to be so formal with me Chief." Liam smiled at the man now unsure of how to react, "Don't think so hard on it Chief. I am sure over time you will get what I mean. I am your commander yes but that doesn't mean I am going to hold it over you too much while we are relaxing."

"You sound like you need me for something."

'Right to business.' Liam thought amused, "I have been asked to get a fugitive that will help me on this mission against the Reapers. However, Jack has been contained in a high security prison for the most dangerous people across Mass Relay universes."

"You want me to come along. Why? I don't want to work for Cerberus." The Chief leaned forward on his arms while Garrus ate.

"I need to see you on the battle field Chief." Shepard answered pushing his food away so he could concentrate on what he needed to be said, "And I don't work for Cerberus. They just happen to have the means for getting the things we need. If I actually worked for them then Tali and Garrus wouldn't be here with me."

John thought about it, "You mean just like them with you, you are using them as a means to an end?"

Liam nodded, "Exactly. They brought me back from the dead. Right now the people I would want to work with are not being logical at all. They think the Reaper threat is something I made up. Only one person believes me and he really can't do anything about it right now."

The human thought about it carefully before he replied, "I will go."

"Then I need to lay down some ground rules. We work as a team. You can not go off on your own. Especially where I am about to go. I don't want to loose you to getting you free from there along with Jack." Liam said seriously.

"I understand sir."

"In a few hours we will be getting there. I want you to have one of your weapons and one of ours. I would suggest a weapon that won't cause alarm, please. I see you have eaten while you had your Omni-tool lesson with Garrus. So I will have you prime your armor for the mission. Garrus will be going with us as well, I would rather I didn't have you work with Miranda on your first mission. I don't need any fights going on."

Chief nodded at Liam, "It will be done sir."

Garrus leaned back as they watched the Spartan walked out of sight, "You handled him well there Shepard."

"He is a military man, he responds better to commands. You would know this better than anyone. I have to appeal to his comfort zone especially when a mission is involved. I know he will do well on it but I need to if he can fight things the way we do." Shepard replied pulling his food to him and started eating.

"Why not Tali?"

The red haired human smiled, "You and I both know she already likes him. It is really obvious. She would be too worried about him to do anything. I need a mind like his when he is out there. You are the perfect Turian for the job my friend."

Garrus chuckled and said with a smile, "You know what I think of him. He may be a bit on the odd side but from what I have seen he is a good and dedicated man. Anyone can see that from miles away. He just…needs time to get accustomed to being here. But…" Garrus chuckled amused, "…I doubt he will change too much. At least until those two hook up." Liam chuckled along with his friend.

"Actually I would like to speak to you about that Commander. Do you think you would have a moment after you eat?" Mordin asked looked at the two, "You can come too Garrus since you both are already talking about it."


	5. Permission

Chapter Five: Permission

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review replies:

 **Kieran Johnson** Thank you for sending the information you did. I promise I will use it the best I can. I will have the information where I keep the rest of mine. : )

 **COLD** Thank you for finding the time to review The Spartan Crew Member. I got so many chapters ready for this story there is no way for me to back out. Trust me you go many more chapters to come. : )

 **Knight5946** Thank you so much for the idea. I will defiantly make good use of it.

 **Lanzador** Thank you for catching that. The previous chapters have been fixed and replaced. : )

 **Scarease** First review For Chief bringing only energy and covenant guns was a call I made because I wanted to show Chief adapting to the universe around him and there was no way the Chief would be able to lug around all of the guns that was on the Forward Unto Dawn. Second Review Chief being looked at by Dr. Chakwas is something I felt needed to happen. Thank you for taking the time to review. : ) I hope you have a good day.

 **Sparta49** : ) I know right. I think they will be cute together.

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a great God fill day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Garrus chuckled and said with a smile, "You know what I think of him. He may be a bit on the odd side but he is a good and dedicated man. Anyone can see that from miles away. He just…needs time to get accustomed to being here. But…" Garrus chuckled amused, "…I doubt he will change too much. At least until those two hook up." Liam chuckled along with his friend._

 _"Actually I would like to speak to you about that Commander. Do you think you would have a moment after you eat?" Mordin asked looked at the two, "You can come too Garrus since you both are already talking about it."_

 _Now:_

Liam and Garrus walked into the Mordin's lab, "So what is going on?" The Turian asked, "And what does it have to do with him and Tali hooking up in the future?"

"At this point them hook up would be just that 'hooking up'." Garrus made a confused face, "They wouldn't get very far because his sexual function is decreased. My guess it is refocused elsewhere."

"I read the report on that any idea how they did it?" Liam asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"No. In fact I can't even think of how to replicate what was done to him. They used chemicals to make him who he is today. How he survived, is surprising to be honest he should have died with what I was assumed they did to him." Mordin answered, "However what they managed to do with him is nothing short of amazing. I have never seen that kind of work without it turning someone into Biotic. In fact I would not even call him that he is just Genetically Enhanced."

"Wait you mean to tell me he is unable to have sex?" Garrus asked shocked.

"Not entirely unable. He can have sex but it will take a lot to get him erect. Like I said his sexual function was redirected elsewhere. If I have your permission Shepard I would like to look into redirecting it back to where it should be. All without taking away from his already considerable enhancements. He is the last of his kind; he deserves to hand down those kinds of enhancements to the next generation without the scientist behind it."

Liam thought about it, "But it isn't my choice, shouldn't you talk to the Chief about this?"

"Yet he also didn't have the choice if I assume they didn't tell him. When you have people part of those kinds of experiments they never tell you what you are going to lose. I know I wouldn't tell anyone."

Garrus sighed and looked away saying to himself, "Hu, no wonder he is so stiff."

"Once you have his permission I am fine with it. I don't want him to be left in the dark in yet another experiment. Give him the choice and study based his answer." Liam answered, "And…make sure he doesn't get hurt in the process. I don't want him to be crippled and feel like he has no purpose. Right now…I feel that is all he has keeping him alive."

"Of course."

Mordin said walking to the door to the room. The Salarian stopped when the Turian asked shocked, "You are going to ask him now?"

"Yes, he deserves to know what is going on with him. That and it will give me more time to find the right way to deliver it to him. At the moment injection is out of the question. His bones are unbreakable and unless I have the right needle the ones I have will not make it into his veins. If I am not careful I could accidentally poison him without trying to."

Garrus didn't say anything else as the Salarian left, "Shepard are you sure that was the right choice? If he functions so well without it what will happen if he has it again?"

"If Mordin gets his permission and if he can make it in time then the Chief should have plenty of time to get accustom to the change. He is adaptable Garrus. I know adaptability when I see it so he will be fine. I would rather him make it his choice not me making it for him. Me and you don't know him that well we can't pretend that we know what is best for him." Liam answered.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

John looked up when Mordin walked in hand freezing in his cleaning of his armor. The Salarian did a double take when he saw the Spartan without his armor. The emotionless ice blue eyes are what shocked him the most, "May I help you Dr. Solus?"

The deep voice snapped him out of his surprise, "Yes, I have a question for you." The Chief sat up straighter showing that Mordin had his full attention. Mordin took a seat to face the tall human, "During the tests I came across some information that may be unknown to you."

"That would be?"

"Your sexual functions are decreased and redirected." Master Chief looked away, "But I am seeing just now you already knew I take it."

"We found out after. Several of us were upset at first but didn't think much on it when we were in the middle of fighting."

"And since they were fighting all the time they didn't have much to complain about or even relax for that matter. Not that you could blame them. If I were real person I would want a family too." Cortana said, Mordin could hear the smile in her voice.

"Yes I agree. I have actually come here to offer to redirect it back for you. That is of course if you are interested." The humans blue eyes looked at him with a smallest level of shock, "I will guarantee that I will cause no more extra harm to you that I can help. My plan is just to redirect. Not to add anything or take it away."

Chief looked away before going back to cleaning his armor not knowing how to answer. He never voiced it but he had been upset that he would never have the chance to have children but as the years went by it came to be less and less important. But now he didn't know how he felt now having the chance to get it back. "Let the Chief think on it Dr. Solus. You have my permission to coming up with an antidote but wait till he gives the okay to give it to him. This is his choice after all."

"Of course. I will look into it right away. I will keep you updated on how I am doing just let me know weather or not you are interested but still know I will keep it handy even if you say you don't want it." Mordin got up and walked to the door after the Chief gave a quiet nod.

When the Salarian was gone Cortana said in a worried tone, "You going to be okay?"

It took a little while for the Spartan to answer, "I don't know. I haven't thought about that issue in a long time."

"Think it through Chief and give the answer you want to say." He image popped up her darkened hands wringing together, "I know you will make the right decision for you not for others around you."

"What do you think I should do?"

Cortana sighed, "Well there is your preferred answer that I just gave but…I truly believe you should take it though. You especially deserve to settle down and have a family." She saw the way his hands moved when they faltered in cleaning and it made her sad that he felt the way he did, "Chief, you were one of those upset teens weren't you?"

John nodded, "I just didn't say anything. I had more on my mind than the unimportance of having children. At the time having a child in that condition was not needed. But…"

"Chief, it's okay. I like the idea of you being a father." He looked down, "You will make a fine father even without having a real father figure yourself. If you ever decide you want the chance back. I meant what I said to Mordin. I just…want him to have it on hand when you make your decision."

"Thank you, he would have waited a long time if I ever decided to do so."

Cortana smiled, "You Chief…" Ice blue eyes looked at her, "…will make any woman happy." John gave her a small smile causing the A.I. to smile bigger, "Because you have a big heart that deserves love."


	6. Purgatory

Chapter Six: Purgatory 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

 **OfficerDonNZ** I know. I had to have a heart to heart between Cortana and John. : ) I love the family like relationship they have.

 **Kieran Johnson** Don't worry I won't rush him into a relationship. I feel like he will need time. : ) Even where I am at right now he is still not in a relationship so you don't have to worry. I have a plan in mind. : )

 **RedRat8** I'm glad you like it. : ) For energy weapons Chief has the Covenant and the Spartan Laser. He is going to get Jack with Garrus and Shepard. : ) In fact it is this chapter that they officially start this mission. : ) He does not have a energy sword but I have a way for him to get one so don't worry the time will come for Chief to get a energy sword. Miranda is very frustrated with him. I look forward to inputting scenes where Miranda is trying to get information out of Chief and boy am I going to have fun frustrating her.

 **Guest** I try to have long chapters then I will find the perfect stopping point. However I can promise you not all my chapters will be short. Now I'm not sure what your version of long would be but with how some of my chapters work some can be a little longer than others.

: ) Yeah, as far as the Chief is concerned I'm a bit of a social butterfly when it comes to dialogue for stores. Toning it down for Chief's character has been a truly interesting ride. But it is getting me ready for when I write characters like him so I am taking this a learning experience. : )

You know I'm not going to lie that would be funny to actually see. If I could find some way to add that to my story I think I will. That would be interesting. Thank you for the idea as well as taking the time to review.

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a great God filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Chief, it's okay. I like the idea of you being a father." He looked down, "You will make a fine father even without having a real father figure yourself. If you ever decide you want the chance back. I meant what I said to Mordin. I just…want him to have it on hand when you make your decision."_

 _"Thank you, he would have waited a long time if I ever decided to do so."_

 _Cortana smiled, "You Chief…" Ice blue eyes looked at her, "…will make any woman happy." John gave her a small smile causing the A.I. to smile bigger, "Because you have a big heart that deserves love."_

 _Now:_

Chief looked around when they stepped onto The Purgatory. The weapons that he had with him were the covenant carbine from his universe, or Halo Universe as Cortana dubbed, and this universes, or Mass Effect Universe again named by Cortana, katana shotgun. Cortana had started making a map of the lay out of the ship. Master Chief tuned his head to the Turian in blue and white armor and a helmet walking up to them. He could already feel it he didn't like the feeling this area was giving off. He felt trapped and that didn't settle with well with him. The Turian looked shocked at the tall human behind Shepard but still spoke, "Welcome to the Purgatory Shepard, your package is being prepped and you can retrieve it shortly. As this is a high security vessel you need to relinquish you weapons before we proceed." The poor door guard inched back a little when he saw how fast the tallest humans hand moved.

As Liam replied Chief as instinctively grabbed the shotgun on his back and Liam held his pistol at Turian, "I will relinquish one bullet where do you want it?"

Another Turian walked out of the door behind the first, "Everyone stand down. Commander, I am Warden Kuril and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is standard procedure. The last thing we need is your…" The warden looked at Master Chief as if sizing him up, "…men to cause any problems."

Liam shook his head, "I am not surrendering my gun. Period. And Master Chief won't be any problem. He will follow my orders without complaint."

Shifting his attention to Shepard, Kuril looked at Liam trying to figure him out, "Let them proceed our facility is more than armed to handle three armed guests." The front guard walked off. Liam gave Chief a look and the large human let go of his gun. Kuril could feel something was different about the tall armored human. He didn't like how he was the only one of the three that didn't take off their helmet. "We are bringing Jack out of Cryo as soon as the funds clear you can be on your way. If you will follow me to out processing for the pick up Commander." Liam nodded and followed Kuril, said Turian was shocked that he didn't hear real heavy foot steps from the giant human.

Along the way the warden explained how things worked at the facility. All the while Cortana fed information to the Chief more about The Purgatory. Chief turned his attention to Commander Shepard as he asked his questions, "Can you tell me about Jack?" Even though Cortana had already informed him about Jack he didn't speak up and let the Commander do his questioning. He could always give the additional information later.

The warden seemed shocked, "You mean Cerberus never told you?" Liam shook his head, "Jack is the meanest inmate I have ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You will see soon enough."

"How did you end up running this ship?" Liam asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was in law enforcement in Palaven and got sick of seeing criminals escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes. Bounty hunters aren't dependable." Chief internally agreed with that statement, "Eventually I came across this idea. Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is a safer place."

"You do this because you think it is necessary?"

Kuril turned away from the group, "Everyday I see the worse sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft and unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe."

"Maintaining a population this size can't be cheep."

"We can cut corners governments can't and each prisoner brings in a fee from his home world. These individuals are violent their home planets pay well to keep them here."

Chief narrowed his eyes hearing that. With his speakers off mumbled causing Cortana to laugh lightly, "I would prefer if this was a more legit facility. They have too much power for a prison." Neither voice made it outside the suit.

Kuril looked over at Chief again as if trying to figure him out. Besides the armor and him clearly smelling human he didn't react like a normal human would. It was as if he was able to hide every emotion. In fact the giant human hadn't moved once since he and Shepard had stopped and talked other than breathing. It was like he was a statue. He turned his attention back to Shepard as he said, "What happens if the home world doesn't want to pay?"

"We explain we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we will be forced to release him back onto his home world at an unspecified place and time."

Garrus got a bit iffed at that crossing his arms over his chest, "If you all didn't sound so _legit_ I would almost think that you were black mailing the home worlds."

Finally Chief moved to turn his head to look at Garrus. Moving his hand he did a Turian sign language motion that Garrus taught him a few hours ago to show he was amused. Garrus laughed while Kuril had to force himself to reply, "You don't have to agree with my methods but don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I plan on keeping them locked up."

Liam shook his head amused by the interaction between Garrus and Chief. It seemed in their short time to get to know each other they were starting to bond. "Let us keep it moving."

Master Chief spoke for the first time his deep voice catching the warden off guard with how near emotionless it sounded, "Have there been any escape attempts?"

"We're in space they have no where to go and they know it. But still we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals." Garrus and Liam looked down to see two prisoners being held back from each other by a shield around each of them. "We have many ways to control the population." As they walked through another door the warden spoke again, "I am going to confirm the funds from Cerberus cleared. Out processing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the super max wing." He then turned and gave what looked like a challenging stare to Shepard and walked away. "I'll catch up with you later Shepard."

The small group walked down the hallway. Shepard stopped a few times to either stop a guard from beating up a criminal and talk to other prisoners. With one of the prisoners they found out that Warden Kuril actually sold the prisoners so people could punish them themselves. Chief would have rolled his shoulders with Garrus if he didn't have such control over himself. As they got to Out Processing they walked over to a set of doors that opened. They were surprised that it was empty. Garrus immediately pulled out his gun causing the unarmed human in the room to run out in a fright, "What is the meaning of this? Where is Jack?"

The warden's voice came of the com system, "Sorry Shepard, but you being my prisoner will get me more money than if you were a buyer." Chief looked at Liam waiting for the signal. His fingers wanting to twitch as he waited for his reply.


	7. No Way In Hell

**Chapter Seven: No Way In Hell**

 **Here is the next chapter for you all.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **Zeus501 Yes, Cortana had it set to explode. : )**

 **RedRat8 : ) I promise I will take Chief getting used romantic feelings as slowly as I can. I don't want to rush his romance. I know he would have no idea what to do. However your point on Chakwas walking him through it is a really good idea. I will defiantly implement it in my story later on. As for you romantic partners idea I love the ideas you put out.**

 **To be honest I never would have thought of Samara for Chief. As I don't know much about her as in my game play I have not come across her yet. I do however know who she is because I have seen my husband play though I have not been at every part he has talked to her on the Normandy. Miranda is one I did consider but I have seen a couple of other people pair him up with her and I didn't want to do that so that is why I picked Tali. Beside the idea I find her being with Chief super adorable. However I do like your idea of him and Miranda bonding in friend ship. While it won't end up romantic I can see them being friends very beneficial for Miranda and Chief. : )**

 **Thank you for your ideas, they were very helpful.**

 **OfficerDonZ Hehehe yes. Chief is a very mad Spartan. They have no idea who they are messing. : ) Of course if you think about it Shepard had no idea what he unleashed either. Lol.**

 **Mandalore the Freedom Yeah sorry about that. I tried to keep the chapters long but as we can see that didn't happen. Yep they have no idea what is about to be unleashed on them. They are not going to be happy how things turn out for them lol. Hm, I didn't know that about the Blue Suns. Maybe I should looked into the different mercenary bands. I think I will start to do that. That will come in real helpful in later chapters.**

 **Hm, I wish I would have thought about your last point however I know I think I know how to salvage that. Thank you for putting it down so it put an idea in my head. : ) I can't wait to write it.**

 **Thank you for your help.**

 **Scarease The warden is a very big fool indeed. : )**

 **Naruko the 7** **th** **Hokage : ) Thank you for pointing that out. I got that fixed.**

 **Knight5946 Muhahaha. Yes, the cliffhanger of doom. Beware the cliffhangers that get in the way. (more evil laughter) (Clears throat) Sorry about that I guess my evil twin take over. : ) I hope you enjoy the newest chapter. Let the fights begin.**

 **Guest (1) Hehehe yes they are.**

 **Guest (2) (que innocent smile) A tease? Who me? Nooooo. I'm a perfect little angel.**

 **BridgeBurn100 I love how Reviewers like you Review. Making me think about things I could add to the story. Thank you for you idea. I will be making sure add these parts. : )**

 **End Replies:**

 **Thank you so much my readers. I know I am just starting out but I knew going into this crossover I was going to get very different kinds of reviews from what I am used to for the most part. But I am still thankful for all of you who continue to read. I can't wait to show you the chapters I had. So I'm going to say it again. Thank you. I look forward to giving you all more chapters. : )**

 **I hope you all enjoy and have a great God filled day.**

 **HMHMHMHMHMHMHM**

 ** _Previously:_**

 ** _The small group walked down the hallway. Shepard stopped a few times to either stop a guard from beating up a criminal and talk to other prisoners. With one of the prisoners they found out that Warden Kuril actually sold the prisoners. Chief would have rolled his shoulders with Garrus if he didn't have such control over himself. As they got to Out Processing they walked over to a set of doors that opened. They were surprised that it was empty. Garrus immediately pulled out his gun causing the unarmed human in the room to run out in a fright, "What is the meaning of this? Where is Jack?"_**

 ** _The wardens voice came of the com system, "Sorry Shepard, but you being my prisoner will get me more money than if you were a buyer." Chief looked at Liam waiting for the signal. His fingers wanting to twitch as he waited for his reply._**

 ** _Now:_**

 **All Chief had to hear was the simple 'No way in hell.' from Shepard and his hand immediately pulled out the covenant carbine shooting away at the first Turian who walked in. The Turian went down quickly by Chief's gun than from Garrus who already had his gun out before the armored human, shocking Warden Kuril at the armored humans' quick as lightning fast reflexes. Garrus and Liam let the kill go without any complaint and went to killing the others that poured into the room. Without warning Chief put his gun away and ran forward a bit with his speed and took one of the Turian's, that had gotten too close to Shepard for Master Chief's comfort, by the head and slammed his head into the wall flattening it in seconds. The giant humans armor and shielding deflecting the bullets headed his way as he blocked the most effective way to getting to his Commander.**

 **Once Chief knew that Commander Shepard was safe he reflexively twisted his body grabbing another enemy headed their way and used his body to not only knock the breath out of the poor Turian when he landed on him but also get behind cover so his shields could recharge. He pulled out a knife from his armored boot and stabbed the Turian in the throat. He quickly grabbed another Turian trying to hold him down only to throw said Turian straight into a wall. With a knife perfectly thrown following the Turians neck that the said knife plunged into not seconds after the Turian hit the wall. Once the small scrimmage was over with Chief walked over to the dead body stuck to the wall and yanked the heavy duty knife free from the fleshy neck. "You never banned knifes." Chief said when Garrus looked at him shocked.**

 **Liam gave an approving nod as the giant human put the knife away, "Not bad. I am definitely glad I asked you to help me out with this." Chief nodded at the praise then pointed at the door, "Let's go get Jack and get out of here."**

 **As the group fought their way down the hallways to their destination Cortana filled him in on what she had found, "They were never going to let Commander Shepard walk out without a fight. You have to help protect him Chief just in case. The last thing any of us need is Liam going missing."**

 **John nodded and whispered so only his A.I. could hear, "Understood." They had made it to their finally passage and most of the time John only had to do hand-to-hand with the Turian's that got too close to Commander Shepard while Liam and Garrus shot the guys trying to kill the armored giant. "Commander, I am going on ahead. I will not let them close the door."**

 **Then before Liam could say anything the giant took off down the hallway knocking any enemy away that tried to block his path. The way he swatted them away was like they were pesky ants. The Commander shook his head with a sigh, "At least he let me know what he planned on doing." As he said this Chief had made it to the door the warden's men were trying to lock down. With one last burst of speed he had gotten his hands in the way stopping the door from closing, "Garrus, shoot the ones trying to take out the Chief I can handle the ones in front of us."**

 **"Yes sir." The ally Turian said taking his rifle to focus on taking out the enemy headed in to kill the Spartan, "Don't let the others bother you Chief just get that door open I got them."**

 **Master Chief didn't respond to Garrus, not that the alien needed it. He made his focus on forcing the door that was trying to lock down open. The metal under his hand bent as he put all his strength into opening the door. When he finally got it open enough he put his foot in the way to help speed the process along. As the door was forcibly opened more and more the more he was able to put more of his body into the gap. Finally the door circuits short circuited and fried making the door much easier to keep the open. He held the door open for his commander and Turian comrade slipping in inside to let the door close, only able to be opened by either him or if the door got fixed.**

 **The three walked further into the room and up to the panel. "That is going to open every door on the cell block." The Chief informed.**

 **Garrus nodded, "But it is the only way to get Jack out of Cryo."**

 **Liam straightened his back, "I'm doing it, get ready."**

 **The team watched as a machine got to getting Jack free. The YMIR Heavy Mechs that were in the room with the robot arm freeing Jack turned and watched what was happening. As the prisoner came to awareness Garrus asked in slight shock, "That's Jack?" The moment she was awake Jack went on a rampage and tore the Heavy Mechs apart in no time.**

 **"We have to get down there." Commander Shepard said with a determined expression.**

 **The team fought their way down the hallways making their way to find Jack as quickly as they could. As they got to one hallway they saw several Turians distracted by something so their back was to them. Chief told them to stay and walked forward silently despite the armor he was wearing. When he got to them he grabbed two and slammed their head into the floor then reflexively dodged at a speed the rest of the Turian's couldn't seem to keep up with. By the end of it all of the Turians in the hallway way were beaten to a bloody pulp single handedly by the largest human ever seen by them. Peeking into the room the group of three saw one of the prisoners trying to kill the Warden but got head shot instead. As the three ran in Warden Kuril spoke up shooting as he did, "You're valuable Shepard; I could have sold you and lived like a king. But you are too much trouble at least I can recapture Jack."**

 **"That will not be happening." Liam said making sure to stay in cover, "You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it."**

 **"I do the hard things civil goverments are unwilling to this is for the good of the galaxy."**

 **Master Chief did a quick sweep around the room with Cortana scanning. "Commander, those consoles in the pillars are protecting him and making his shield stronger than normal." The human said after Cortana told him what he needed.**

 **"Good eye Chief. See what you can do about them. Garrus and I will do our best to keep you safe. You shields from what I have observed should hold up better than ours." Liam said getting his gun ready. He knew that the A.I. with him did the scanning but there was no need to bring to light that the armored human had an Artificial Intelligence in his suit's matrix. "As soon as you are ready get to them as fast as you can."**

 **Master Chief looked around for an opening then shot out like a bullet pulling out his heavy duty knife as he ran on his way to the first pillar he took down two Turians and took them into cover with him killing them quickly then darted back out into the open before the warden could head shot him. "You are pretty quick there human." The Chief didn't respond and kept quickly moving from cover to cover intriguing the warden even more, "Almost like you were experimented on."**

 **He got to the pillar but he knew he didn't have a lot of time to dilly dally so the got straight to working on it. With his outer microphone off he spoke, "Cortana, destroy or does it need hacking?"**

 **"Give me a minute." As she thought about what she needed to do she suddenly growled out, "** ** _Everyone on this ship will die!_** **"**

 **John blinked in surprise, "Cortana?"**

 **"Don't worry about it. Have your fun and destroy it." The A.I. quickly responded.**

 **He saved his questions for later and quickly beat the console in causing it to static then went to head to the other one but found Warden Kuril in his way. Quickly he took a couple of steps backwards to give him some distance from the Turian. "You are an interesting one, and here I thought Shepard was valuable."**


	8. Don't Count On It

Chapter Eight: Don't Count On It

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I have reposted this chapter. I hope you all like it.

Before you go and read it. I want to thank my best friend who helped me out for this chapter they are a true blessing in my life. They have helped me with a lot over the years and I could never thank them enough. : )

Review Replies:

 **dawnwatch** I will take that into consideration when I get to the other fighting scenes. Thank you for letting me know. : )

 **BridgeBurn100** Thank you for the suggestion I will defiantly take that into consideration for my future chapters. : )

 **deathcornfive** (Pout) I never thought about Chakwas. I love the idea. That would have been a great relationship to write for. Unfortunately I can't change anything about what romance he is in because I am too far into the story.

 **RedRat8** I am glad you liked the chapter.

 **Scarease** Lol that he has.

 **Guest** I know right. That is what I am aiming for. Where I am at now they had a couple of cute scenes already. Eek I love writing for the two of them.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

blank Cortana talking outside suit

 _blank_ (not going to lie I want you all to guess what this is for) : )

I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Don't worry about it. Have your fun and destroy it." The A.I. quickly responded._

 _He saved his questions for later and quickly beat the console in causing it to static then went to head to the other one but found Warden Kuril in his way. Quickly he took a couple of steps backwards to give him some distance. "You are an interesting one and here I thought Shepard was valuable."_

 _Now:_

Garrus looked over at Master Chief and cursed, "Shepard, it seems he has lost interest in us."

Liam looked over as well and gritted his teeth, "We should use his attention on the Chief to go for the other one. He should be able to hold him till then but we have to make it quick. I don't want him to wear out."

"That and if the shield is down he could take him out in close combat." The Turian agreed as they headed their way to the other pillar.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Warden Kuril had placed his gun in its holster and was in a hand to hand combat with the large human. The human had not once spoken since in the hallway when he asked his question about the escape attempts. Despite the human not having any real training like a Turian he was surprisingly good. Every attempt to get the large man down was in vain. Kuril couldn't very well lift the human as he was wearing armor that had to at least weigh a ton by human standards. So his best option was to get him on the ground by tripping him up but the human had very good balance for such chunky looking armor. "Tell me human what do your comrades call you other than Chief?" The armored man stayed quiet and suddenly attacked with his knife. Kuril couldn't even dodge with the speed the man displayed for the attack so he was happy that the shield was still over him as it would have sliced through his throat. One of his men shot at the large human he was fighting forcing the man away. "Stay out of this. I can handle him. You go after Shepard and his friend." He turned back to the armored human watching and analyzing him, "So, are you going to enlighten me to what they do call you."

Cortana giggled in his helmet, not that Kuril could hear her. (He is really interested in you. Go on give him something to work with, I am interested in what you would chose to tell him.)

"Demon is what my foes call me." Master Chief answered for his A.I.'s own amusement.

(Excellent choice John.) Cortana said laughingly, ( _Because like a demon you will tear them all to pieces._ ) She took a shaky breath, (Sorry ask me later, please.)

The warden was in his own version of amusement, "I see, you are going to be difficult about this matter. One way or another you will give me your name. Of that I can assure you."

"Don't count on it." The Chief replied going in for another test strike only to get blocked by a deft hand. He was testing out the difference between what he knew and how this Turian fought, as he had never fought a Turian before.

"Do you really think attacking me head on will help you?" The Turian said with a smile making quick jab at the human's shields only to have his attempt blocked quickly, "I see, you will take some time to wear out. Let's see what you are really made of."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Garrus hissed as he peeked over at Chiefs' fight, "The only reason they are evenly matched right not is because of that blasted shield protecting the warden." He internally cheered as his second favorite human landed a sound kick the wardens' abdomen sending him flying back away from the giant human. He shot another Turian that made that was their way, "Shepard, at this rate we will not be able to make it there in time."

"We have to. The Chief can't fight indefinitely." Liam replied, "As soon as there is an opening we are going to take it. We are not losing one of our own to this mad man."

The Turian nodded keeping his eyes peeled for an opening. The Blue Sun's were not going to make that easy. It was like for every one they killed two more took that one's place. "They are acting like what you humans call a Hydra."

Liam chuckled very much amused hearing that, "That is a very accurate description." He sent out a Combat Drone, "It's too bad we don't have something to incinerate the assholes with. That would kill the Hydra for sure." Garrus chuckled, containing his need to burst out laughing.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Chief rolled to his feet as Warden Kuril tripped him up slightly. He frowned inwardly. It became apparent that taking up that sparing that Garrus offered was in order. Then he would look up how the other aliens fought using his Omni-tool. He could not let himself be beaten by anything. If he couldn't protect the innocent what else was he supposed to do. Lay around and not to do anything? No! That was not an option. Especially since this Turian seemed to want him for some kind of science experiment. He could not let that happen. What happened to him and his fellow Spartans should not be allowed to be repeated here. At least Halsey replaced the children with clones, even if it was still kidnapping in all sense of the word. This Turian would not do that. His fist tightened causing the warden to laugh, "What, is it getting to you?" Putting his knife away he pulled out his Covenant Carbine and shot. At first Warden Kuril laughed more than happy to let the shield take the shot but at that moment the shield suddenly fell and the shot and hit his shoulder armor. "What is this? Some kind of plasma gun. Well, isn't this interesting technology." He tore off the piece of armor that that plasma was eating through and looked amused at the human who shot him, "You would make a grand guard."

"I don't work for criminals."

mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh

"Yes!" Garrus cheered as the warden's shield fell, "Now the Chief has the upper hand. After what we have seen there is no way the Warden has any chance of winning."

"Now we just have to make are way over to him and help him out."

"Easier said then done Shepard." The Turian replied amused then continued as they moved forward shooting down more Blue Sun's, "I think by the time we get over to help Chief will have him beaten."

"I don't doubt that one bit." The commander agreed.

mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh

Master Chief grunted when his Covenant Carbine got kick away from him and slid into a corner. Marking its place in his memory he concentrated on fighting once again hand to hand combat with Warden Kuril. He could see that the warden was trying to put him on the defensive but Chief wasn't about to let that happen. Feeling he had decent enough information on how Kuril fought he charged forward startling the Turian. Somehow the warden dodged the hit aimed for his chest. Quickly Kuril tried to back up to put some distance between the human behemoth and himself to analyze what happened but the Spartan just ran at him again. It amazed the warden how fast the human was. He now had no doubt that this human was experimented on. There was no way a human was a fast as this man. Kuril own personal shields flickered out quickly when his side was hit with a heavy gauntleted fist.

This put the warden in a small panic. He had not been expecting this kind of strength and speed; which was funny as it was the Chief's speed that had caught attention in the first place. Now he understood. The human in front of him was assessing him before putting his full strength into the fight. The Turian was forced to continue to back up from the fast strikes the human was throwing at him. He tried to block one strike only to find searing pain as it felt like his bone starting to fracture. The Chief still didn't let up from the speed of his strikes keeping the warden on the move unable to assess his surroundings. Kuril ducked just in time to miss being hit in the head and quickly took this chance to take the human's shields down. However he was thwarted by the shield just lighting up and staying put. In the position the Turian was in he was unable to avoid the elbow that came down just after he hit the shields causing him to meet the blackness of unconscious and several fractures on his skull.

Master Chief stared down at the fallen Turin as he let his shields recharged from the smallest sliver taken away from the hit. (That was a well earned win John. Good job.) Cortana said as she checked his vitals, (Every things looks good from in here so you are in good shape to continue.)

He really wanted to ask about the outburst earlier but sighed as this was still not the best time to talk about it. "Chief." The armored human looked at the friendly Turian, "You did it. I knew you could do it."

"I'm going to take you up on that training you offered." John replied stepping away from the unconscious warden. He didn't feel like killing the unconscious Turian so he just went to get his Covenant Carbine instead.

"Are you sure leaving him alive is the smart thing to do Chief?" Shepard asked looking at his fellow human, "He could come after you again."

"If you want him dead then go ahead. I don't feel like killing him, he's not worth it." The Spartan replied replacing the Covenant gun.

"Don't worry about it." Garrus said shooting the warden in the head, "I will do it because I don't want him coming after you or Shepard. It is considered dirty work but I care more for you two than his life."

Liam nodded, "Okay, let's go get Jack."


	9. Do I Make You Nervous?

Chapter Nine: Do I Make You Nervous?

Here is the next chapter for you all.

A big thank you to Mandalore the Freedom for an idea in part of this chapter. : )

Review Replies:

 **BridgeBurn100** Lol I love your reviews they make me giggle. I am glad you are enjoying The Spartan Crew Member. : )

bored peasant It wasn't that Chief wasn't good at Martial Arts. It was the fact that he had never spared/fought a Turian before. I also wanted to use this as a pave way for Chief to accept to train with Garrus. I didn't want him to accept just willy nilly. : ) Thank you for taking time to review.

P.S. There has been a slight adjustment to the previous chapter if you wish to go see. After I talked to a friend I adjusted the chapter a bit to hopefully fix what was seen as an issue.

 **dawnwatch** Lol every time I type an all lower case for a reviewer it capitalizes the first after I space, so amusing. : ) I wanted to make Garrus make a good choice too. I love Garrus as a character in Mass Effect he's one of the few characters I want to romance. It also helps that he is really cute and their alien is so cool looking. That sounds weird doesn't it lol. I'm such a girl, oh well.

 **Guest (1) (from chapter seven)** I love your review. It was fun to read. : )

 **RedRat8** I was going for the shield giving him the advantage. I know I had Chief on the defensive for a short bit after but I really wanted the Chief to have a reason to take up Garrus on his offer to train him with the Turian way of fighting. When I thought about Chief just accepting right off the bat it seemed…off to me to do that. So I needed a reason why he would accept. Thank you for taking the time to review.

P.S. There has been a slight adjustment to the previous chapter if you wish to go see. After I talked to a friend I adjusted the chapter a bit to hopefully fix what was seen as an issue.

 **Guest (2)** That's another way that I had when I planned out the fight between Chief and Kuril. But my biggest reason for the fight taking the turn it did was for the Chief to have a reason to accept Garrus's offer to train him. : ) Thank you for taking the time to review.

P.S. There has been a slight adjustment to the previous chapter if you wish to go see. After I talked to a friend I adjusted the chapter a bit to hopefully fix what was seen as a issue.

 **Guest (3)** I was trying to find a way for Chief to accept the offer that Garrus gave him when he offered to train him earlier in the story. Thank you for taking the time to review.

P.S. There has been a slight adjustment to the previous chapter if you wish to go see. After I talked to a friend I adjusted the chapter a bit to hopefully fix what was seen as an issue.

 **Nate** I'm sorry you feel that way. Either way if you continue to read my story or not I hope you have a good day.

 **Guest (4)** I will take into effect of the shields of the ME Universe and the rounds that Chief carries. Thank you for taking the time to review.

P.S. There has been a slight adjustment to the previous chapter if you wish to go see. After I talked to a friend I adjusted the chapter a bit to hopefully fix what was seen as an issue.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ (not going to lie I want you all to guess what this is for) : )

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and have a God filled day. : )

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Are you sure leaving him alive is the smart thing to do Chief?" Shepard asked looking at his fellow human, "He could come after you again."_

 _"If you want him dead then go ahead. I don't feel like killing him, he's not worth it." The Spartan replied replacing the Covenant gun._

 _"Don't worry about it." Garrus said shooting the warden in the head, "I will do it because I don't want him coming after you or Shepard. It is considered dirty work but I care more for you two than his life."_

 _Liam nodded, "Okay, let's go get Jack."_

 _Now:_

The team of three walked up to Jack who was pacing and growling in rage at something. Because she was so focused on her rage she didn't see one of the guards walking up to her. So when she did his head had gotten shot causing her to look over at Shepard who shot the man for her. Liam put his gun away as Jack asked, "What the hell do you want?"

Liam snorted amused by her defensive behavior, "I just saved your ass."

The convict started pacing again, "He was already dead, he just didn't know it. Now what the hell do you want?" Her stance told the team that she was still on the aggressive even though her tone gave her away reguardless.

"My name is Liam Shepard and I am here to get you off this ship." Liam replied crossing his arms over his chest looking at her straight in the eye without flinching.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus." Jack all but growled out looking over at the other two flanking Shepard. It was the armored up human that had her a fraction nervous. Something told her that he wasn't someone you wanted to underestimate. The fact that he stood so still like a statue didn't help the foreboding feeling about him either. Yet for some strange reason she felt a…kinship with him. 'Ug, whatever. Stop thinking about it.'

"I'm offering to be your friend. You don't want to be my enemy." Shepard said with a disbelieving face and a small scoff.

Garrus gave a small chuckle, "They all have a way of dying." The Turian shifted from foot to foot to keep him occupied as he waited to see the out come of this conversation.

"You show up in Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. Do you think I'm stupid?" The convict waved her arm at the ship seen in the window, "Why would I be willing go with Cerberus."

"This ship is going to go down in flames at some point and I got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me and you're arguing."

Jack didn't look convinced so the armored human spoke up for the first time in Jack's presence, "If he worked for Cerberus legitimately I wouldn't be working with Shepard. I would rather not know what I am doing than working for criminals."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up doing what I was doing Chief. Hell, I would happily let you into my mercenary band any day." Garrus said with a laughing smile causing the armored human to look at him. Despite not showing his emotions in his stance the Turian could tell that his newest friend was greatly amused by him and his comment.

"How can I believe you?" Jack asked skeptically eyeing the human's large armored frame.

"You don't have to." The Commander replied causing Jack to scoff at him.

"Hey Chief, couldn't you just carry her on your shoulder?" The Turian asked crossing his arms looking at his close friend.

"Yes, but I will only do it if Shepard commands it." Jack could tell that this man didn't care if she was brought abroad their ship or not. Even though he wasn't showing it on the outside like her, he didn't want to be on this ship any more than she did.

"Look you want me to come with you, make it worth my while." Jack challenged walking forward.

"Tell me what you're thinking." Liam asked walking forward to meet her challenge.

"I bet your ship has lots of Cerberus databases I want to look at those files to see what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team let me go through those databases." Jack replied crossing her arms over her chest. She could see the Turian giving the armored up human a look who just replied with a tilt of his head. She didn't know what was being conveyed but apparently that was all the scarred Turian needed to laugh lightly.

"I'll give you full access."

The convict pointed at Liam to which she noted instantly caused the armored up human to tense up, looking almost ready to grab one of his guns, "You better be straight up with me." When Liam nodded and she backed away, the soldier relaxed. "So why the hell are we standing here?"

Liam nodded to his two men, "Let's move out."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Chief stood in the corner of the briefing room with Shepard, Jack, Miranda and Garrus. Miranda was looking at Jack talking to her, "Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. I'm Miranda Shepard's second in command. On this ship we follow orders." Master Chief resisted shaking his head he already knew this was going to end badly. He could tell Jack was not going to reach kindly to this.

Jack responded instantly, "Tell the Cerberus cheerleader to back off Shepard. I'm here because of our deal." In the corner of her eye she could see Master Chief waiting in the corner. Standing so still as if he was a statue. Even on the ship he still had not changed. She didn't know how she felt about that. 'Is he going to be as bad as Cheerleader? I sure hope not.'

Shepard nodded, "Miranda will let you into the system. Let me know what you find."

The criminal smirked at Miranda as she responded, "Hear that precious? We're going to be friends. You, me, _and_ every embarrassing little secret." Garrus had moved to lean against the wall where Chief was standing. They both had a concern they wanted to talk to Liam about. "I'll be reading down it in the hold or somewhere near the bottom. I don't like a lot of through traffic." She walked to the door saying as the door shut behind her, "Keep your people off me. Better that way."

Miranda not happy just shook her head at Liam and walked out. Shepard shook his head and looked at Garrus and Chief, "You two look like you wish to ask me something."

"We do actually." Garrus replied standing up entirely, "As we were flying off Chief and I came to the same conclusion. We don't like the idea of the Purgatory still out there in the hands of the prisoners. We both have come up with two different ways it could be handled but the choice is up to you. Both ideas we are partial to." The Turian looked at Liam as he watched them it was clear that Chief was leaving the talking to Garrus, "One is it could be destroyed the other is finding a way to get a message to the higher ups to take the prisoners."

Liam crossed his arms and thought about it, "Hm, I don't like the idea of just killing them but if we could first get the prisoners off the ship then the Purgatory could be destroyed after. I'll try to send a message to the counsel. I'm not sure if they will believe I am alive yet but you are right it would be better than just leaving the ship to the prisoners. Chief, is there a way Cortana can shut down the ship long enough to keep the prisoners there but not kill them?"

The large human shook his head and let Cortana talk, "No, I need to be more in tune to your technology before I try something like that so I spoke with E.D.I. and she was able to do it."

"I also made sure they don't get any outside help off." E.D.I. added making Cortana laugh lightly.

Liam nodded, "Good, this way we don't have to be worried about them getting free by the time they get there." He headed toward the door, "I am going to send a message. You two feel free to spend the rest of your day the way you wish."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

As Jack exited the elevator to Engineering, the criminal had refused to any Cerberus operative where the bottom of the ship was so she was still looking. She looked over to see the armored up human, Chief she remembered Shepard calling him, messing with something next to the door to the Cargo Bay still in his armor. When he backed off she saw he adding something to the outside. "Do I make you nervous knight in shining armor?" He didn't respond to her and went back to messing with the thing on the wall outside the door, "Hey, where will I find the lowest part of the ship?" Chief looked at her again and pointed to both doors next to the elevator then down. And just like when she taunted him he didn't say a word and went back to the thing outside the Cargo Bay door.

She narrowed her eyes at his back suspiciously then went to go inside said door only see it open and a Quarian in her way, "Oh, forgive me. I didn't think you were so close to the door." She pointed to the stairs, "Just go down there." The Quarian walked over to Chief, "How did you do on your first mission with Liam?"

The armored human gave a glance at the Quarian, "I was told I did better with teamwork than he had expected." All Jack saw was the Quarian touch the human's arm in a sort of praising way before making her way down the stairs both in their own way pointed out.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

A few days later Garrus was found chuckling at something he read on his data pad then looked up as Tali and Chief sat with him at one of the mess hall tables, "Hey, you have got to see this. It's hilarious."

The Quarian took the data pad from the Turian and read it over with Chief. She giggled and handed the data pad back, "That is funny."

Both looked at Chief when he blinked looking at them with his sharp icy blue eyes. He raised his hand and made the 'confused' Turian sign to Garrus, "Oh, I forgot. That's a comic strip written by one of Tali's and my favorite comic strip writer. Her name is Lorane Crow. She's human like you but boy does she do her research to come up with funny things for all races to enjoy." The Turian tilted his head when the human still didn't get it, "Okay, what don't you get Chief."

Jack, who had been sitting near them, raised an eyebrow looking the human male over now that she knew that was him without his armor on. Three days on the Normandy and this was the first time seeing him out of his armor. His eyes gave her the same feeling his armor did. It was unsettling. She listened to his reply as he replied emotionlessly, "How can you laugh at something that is making fun of you?"

'You're shitting me. He doesn't know what humor means does he.' Jack thought to herself as she ate her meal.

Garrus laughed loudly throwing his head back, "Forget Lorane Crow you are truly funny." He looked laughingly at the ice blue eyed human, "That's the point of this comic strip. When you read it you know what you are going to get. Besides it's good to laugh at your race every once in a while. When you think about it we do some really funny shit that looks weird or misunderstood by most."

The Quarian smiled and touched the human's bare arm making him jump very slightly. She pulled back, "Sorry, I forgot. I'm not used to your sensitivity."

"Says the Quarian." Garrus chipped in with a chuckled. When Tali looked at him with a glare, "Oh, give me a break. Both of you wear armor or a suit pretty much all the time. I am pretty sure anyone would be sensitive to be touched if they did that."

"Garrus, you better lock the Main Battery door."

The Turian grinned while Chief looked between the two of them trying to decide if this was an argument or not. Garrus pretty much told him it was not when he responded with, "Wasn't it you that told me that on the first Normandy?"

The female sighed, "I should have never told you that." The Quarian looked at the human. Chief nodded seemingly content with the outcome and went to his food. "Say, what were you putting outside the door of the Cargo Area a few days ago? I forgot to ask you when we were down in Engineering."

"A detector. It will only allow the people I trust into the room when I am not in it. I don't trust Miranda not to try anything."

Garrus looked at Chief with a nod of approval, "Hey, Tali and I were going to play a card game with Shepard in his room. He asked me to invite you if you were interested."

The human shook his head, "No thank you, I have to do some repairs to my armor when I get back to the Cargo Bay."

Garrus nodded, "I did that as soon as I cleaned mine as soon when I got back. I couldn't take the blood of those people being on it. It just wasn't right. Half the stuff they were doing was morally wrong." He held his food, "I mean think back on those guards beating up on the man just because he offed someone in the showers. They should have a better way of handling that and how the prisoners treating each other. I mean they are people too."

Chief nodded in agreement as Tali said, "Wow, that sounds bad."

The criminal gave a huff alerting the three to her presence. Garrus nodded at her, "Hey, Jack. Shepard also sends an invite for you to join the card game as well."

"Please, like I would waste my time with a card game." Then the convict left the mess hall.

Tali sighed, "I guess it will just be us with Shepard, Garrus."


	10. Getting Along

Chapter Ten: Getting Along

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

RedRat8 Lol, I guess one of my brilliant ideas wasn't as good as I thought then hu? : ) Reading your review has shown that unfortunately I feel like taking the part where he is thinking about taking Garrus's offer out will take away from the over all scene. So I will not be able to take them out without seriously messing up the spots where they are at. Thank you for saying this. I will do my best to not do something like this again. : ) Again thank you.

Halo Star Wars X-over fan (Chapter two) At the time that I wrote this that was the heights I found. Unfortunately I am unable to fix this as it would mess with the flow of the story that I have. Trust when I say I would but with how far I am I won't be able to do that. I am sorry.

: ) Thank you for taking the time to review.

ArchAngel319 I will. I am having a lot of fun writing this as well as learning a lot. : )

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Chief nodded in agreement as Tali said, "Wow, that sounds bad."_

 _Jack gave a huff alerting the three to her presence. Garrus nodded at her, "Hey, Jack. Shepard also sends an invite for you to join the card game as well."_

 _"Please like I would waist my time with a card game." Then the convict left the mess hall._

 _Tali sighed, "I guess it will just be us with Shepard, Garrus."_

 _Now:_

A few days later Master Chief looked up when the door to the Cargo Bay opened. He relaxed when Liam waved him down, "Hey Chief, can I come in." The blue eyed human nodded taking a gun with him to clean. Liam leaned on his hands, "I'm curious what do you think of the crew so far."

The slightly shorter human sat down as he let the taller gage his response. Though he seemed to almost wait on Cortana who spoke up and said, "Oh no big guy, he asked you not me."

Liam chuckled, "You are more than welcome to join in as well Cortana."

She giggled as Chief sighed, "I will let you know after he has said his piece."

Shepard laughed lightly closing his light green eyes in the process, "Okay, fair enough."

Chief thought about it, "Jack and Miranda worry me. Jack not because she is a convict but due to her untrusting behavior and Miranda because she is with Cerberus. While Jacob is apart of Cerberus I feel as if he is more trustworthy due to him being more forthcoming about what he does. Professor Solus…I trust him enough but…there is something about him that make him different, and not because he is an alien. I get along with Garrus and Tali the best. They are both willing to help when I need something."

Liam nodded, "You know Garrus treats you like his friend right?" The taller human nodded causing Shepard to smile, "So what about you Cortana? What are your thoughts on the crew?"

"Well I find Miranda to be untrustworthy when it involves Chief's stuff but on the battle field she looks worthy from what I read up on." The commander shook his head, he should have known that this A.I. would find her way into their helmet and armor videos. "Jack is a bit on the sketchy side but I bet you could win her over and get her trust. She would make a very powerful ally. Professor Solus is amusing to me. I love to hear him talk to himself. He has so many useful ideas. I wish I could talk to him on a more personal level if I could be sure that we would not be walked in on."

Liam smiled, "If you want I can help out in getting you that interaction."

"That would be lovely Commander Shepard, thank you." She flickered into view on her chip. She had a big smile, "Anyway I actually like Jacob despite him being with Cerberus. If I wasn't unsure of him turning me in I would love to get to know him. I share my fondness for Tali and Garrus like Chief. They have both been very good for him. They have really helped him come out of his shell over this week. I couldn't be more thankful for them."

"Have you and Tali been getting along."

"Oh yes, very much so. I appreciate her trying. I know it must be tough for her to get to know me as different than other A.I." Cortana put her dark hands together.

Liam took note of that but didn't ask the question. For some reason it looked like there was less light blue marking on her. However he couldn't be for sure. "So Chief are you okay with telling me a little about yourself?"

"What do you wish to know?"

Shepard leaned back with a small smile, "Right now anything you are willing to share."

The tall human froze; he had not been expecting that. He looked at his Commander with his sharp blue eyes but those light green eyes just waited patiently for his response. Cortana smiled as she looked at her Spartan, "Try something simple big man, don't think too much into it. Maybe something you like."

Instead of doing what his A.I. suggested he ask, "Why are you asking these kinds of questions?"

Liam nodded, "That seems fair." He leaned forward, "I know how this is going to come out but I want you to understand I mean it in a not wanting to use you kind of way, okay." Chief nodded the gun forgotten on his lap as he gave his commander his full attention, "I find you interesting. You have had all these things done to you at such a young age to make you who you are today; keep in mind I can only assume what they did to you. It just amazes me how you survived it all. There is also how you see the world, seeing as you come from a different alternate universe. Yet despite coming to our universe where we get along with our different alien races in a way you have adapted quite well to aliens on our ship. You also just told me the two you are closest to are aliens. Knowing all this just makes me want to learn about you so I can become a better friend to you."

Chief looked at the weapon in his lap, "I started getting along with one alien near the end of our war." Liam listened closely, "At first I treated him with suspicion when we first started to work together. The Elites, or Sangheili as the called themselves in their language, had turned against the Covenant when they realized they were being lied to by the Prophets. Over time of working next to Arbiter, the Elite I mentioned, we started to get closer. I could start to trust my back to him." Chief looked away, "On the final mission we had together in the war we got separated when the ship split in half. He had gotten to the front half of the ship. I didn't make it."

Commander Shepard nodded, "I see. The side we found you on was the back half." Chief nodded, Liam could tell that the large human was going through his memories, "How about I leave and we can talk more later?"

"Thank you for asking what we thought about the crew." Cortana said, "No one really bothered to ask a Spartan and A.I. how they felt about the people they worked with. It truly means a lot to us."

"When you are part of my crew I want you all to be as comfortable with me as possible." The red haired human replied with a smile as he stood up, "I will see you around Chief."

"Yes sir, Commander."

Liam laughed as he left, "Remember you don't have to be so formal with me when we are on the Normandy."

Master Chief watched the man leave. He shook his head, this man confused him. He looked at Cortana, "Can you explain why you were acting different on the Purgatory?"

The A.I. turned to him with a sad frown, "I can but you are not going to like what I have to say."


	11. I Hope I'm Not Too Late

Chapter Eleven: I Hope I'm Not Too Late

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I forgot to do this for my last chapter but I really want to thank my best friend for looking at the previous chapter. They are a true blessing in helping me with my stories. : )

A big thanks to my husband for looking this chapter over for me. I truly love this man. 3

Review Replies:

 **Knight5946** Yep, I actually dreaded doing this part because Cortana is my second favorite character in Halo under Chief.

 **ArchAngel319** I know how you feel about the 'Previously' sections. I actually got the idea from several other authors and I agree it did help refresh the memory about what happened in the last chapter. : )

 **RedRat8** Pretty much she is going mad but can't really do anything to stop it unfortunately. I find that Shepard is the kind of person that wants to get people comfortable with him before he tries to ask any deeper questions.

Goodness yes, they so would have been. The way I write this Shepard he would pick up on the fact that Chief is different and go out of his way to get to know him. : )

 **BridgeBurn100** I'm not going to lie I read that first sentence and about had a miniature heart attack. I can't wait to write the scene between Mordin and Cortana. I think it will be fun to write. : ) Thank you for reviewing.

 **Darkmankryl** Thank you for spotting that. I have had it fixed and found in the rest of my story. : ) Thank you for taking the time to review.

 **Guest** I may have only watched Youtubers play the game but I care not. : D THE CAKE IS A LIE is from Portal. I loved watching GassyMexican and Matt Eades play Poral 2. You have no idea how happy that made me that I was able to make that connection without looking it up.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ (You will find out in this chapter)

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Master Chief watched the man leave. He shook his head, this man confused him. He looked at Cortana, "Can you explain why you were acting different on the Purgatory?"_

 _The A.I. turned to him with a sad frown, "I can but you are not going to like what I have to say."_

 _Now:_

"Chief, I was put into service eight years ago." John stayed quite as he listened his heart clenched at what he feared he would hear. "A.I. deteriorate after seven."

"E.D.I." John said softly as to not actually call the other A.I. up.

"Chief…"

"I would say Halsey but we can't get to her. But maybe E.D.I. can help." Chief said cutting her off.

"I can't recover from rampancy Chief." Cortana replied, "And E.D.I. and I are not even made the same. I was made from Halsey herself. Her D.N.A. isn't here. I'm sorry Chief." She watched his hand clench as he tried to hold his grief in, "I wish I could stay with you forever, I really do."

"I can't lose you." The human said placing his hand near her chip.

Cortana knelt down and touched his hand. Even though he couldn't feel it he almost could with his mind. "I know. It hurts me to know I can't stay. But this is why I have been so insistent on you getting close to this crew. It would hurt me to know I left you completely alone." She looked up into his hurt eyes. They showed his pain, "I made a promise to myself that I would never leave until I know you are not alone. You may not have anyone from our universe anymore but this crew, Shepard, they care for you. They want you to be one with them. Chief, John you were even invited to play a game of cards with them." She wished she could cry, for the both of them. The A.I. knew that he would never do so, "Please promise me you won't let my death cause you to harm yourself."

His hurt blue eyes looked into her own, "I will be alone without you."

"No, you have Liam, Garrus, and Tali. And when you get to know the others you will have them. Please, promise me."

"I…I promise." His heart clenched saying that. He didn't want to because that meant he was accepting her death. He didn't want too. He wanted to scream out his frustration and even hit something. But he also didn't like seeing her hurting eyes looking at him like that. He had always kept his promises to her.

"Thank you, I will hang in as long as I can. I will promise you that. I need to know that you will be taken care of." She sat down and looked up at him his eyes had never left her. Cortana kept her hands on his pointer finger. She wished she could really hug him.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

E.D.I. listened to the conversation between the A.I. and Chief. Her own 'heart' went out to them. It was true she could do nothing to help her fellow A.I. She had actually tried to come up with a solution but nothing usable come up. E.D.I. had kept the other A.I. a secret from the Illusive Man. She had no idea what he would do with that kind of information. Cortana was truly one of a kind. She had enjoyed their conversations when the Chief wasn't in the Cryo Bay. Everything E.D.I. had learned from Cortana she kept safe and locked away, with the help of the other A.I. of course. She refused to share these precious moments with anyone other than Master Chief. When the time was right she would show him just so he had something.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Miranda sat in her office beyond distracted. It had been like this since she was unable to get any information on their silent but deadly giant human. Despite her original intention for getting the information she was interesting in genuinely getting to know Master Chief. From what she had read on his medical records like her and Jack he was made to be the perfect fighter. That strength that Mordin had predicted he would have was easily shown in the fight between Chief and Warden Kuril. It had simply astonished her how strong he really was. There was also the fact that during the fight he seemed to gage his opponent first before charging.

But what really got her attention about the Chief was his speed. Some of his movements had been so fast that she really had to slow down the recording to even see what he had done in the first place. And during the attack it was like he had tons of practice as he moved with ease. She tapped her arm; if she was being honest with herself she really wanted to test herself against him. He could prove to be the one of the few people she could put her all into sparring with. But the question was would she tell the Illusive man what she was learning or keep it to herself?

She wanted to be greedy and keep the information to herself if she was honest. It was her own personal goal to spar against him, not that the Illusive Man hadn't asked her to do it. However she really wanted to see if she was par with the Chief. His speed and cunning would be fun to test against her biotics. She had no doubt he had heard about them and was looking them up. 'That's it. The next time I try to talk to him I will not bring my bugs I will bring a data pad with reliable sources for him to study. I refuse to fight him if he doesn't know about them.' With that in mind she got to work pulling out a data pad and looking up sources that would be beneficial to the genetically altered human.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

In an alternate universe a lone ship flew. Inside was a single occupant who wore blue armor. His name was Thel 'Vadam, or Arbiter as humans knew him. He was in a human ship looking for the missing Demon. There was no way he was crazy like his fellow Sangheili thought he was. They had told him it would take years before he could ever find him. His hand clenched the counsel beneath it. His own people didn't even give him a ship because they thought it would take too long. But he had faith and went to Earth to get their aid. They had given him a ship and taught him how to use it. They asked for forgiveness that they couldn't send people as well. He had understood which brought him to the here and now, two years later. He told the humans that he would inform them once he had found him. 'Where could you be Demon?' He looked out to space and tapped his finger.

Suddenly the computer spoke up, "Unknown energy signature detected."

Arbiter's hands flew across the controls, "Computer triangulate on those coordinates."

"Triangulating." His brown eyes stared at the screen, "Coordinates are ready."

The Elite sat down and strapped himself in, "Jump."

"Hang on." The computer said then shot off fast.

Arbiter thought to himself, 'Those coordinates…that was where the ship had split. Why didn't I think to check there yet?' He griped the arm rest with his hands, 'Hang on Demon, I'm coming.'

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Liam sighed as he laid down in his bed. He thought about what the Chief had told him, 'Shit I forgot to ask if he knew about any upgrades.' He rolled his eyes at himself, 'I will ask him the next time I visit him.' His mind went to the alien that Chief had talked about, 'Sangheili, that definitely is an alien I haven't heard about. I wonder what they are like. You know I bet we could help him find a way home after all this is said and done. I have no doubt that he misses being there. I will ask him about that too.' His eyebrows arched down, 'Cortana looked distracted when I was in there. I wonder what was wrong.' He shivered, 'I don't like it though. She seems to be distancing herself from everyone. Even when she said she was interested in talking to Mordin. It isn't noticeable but…there has to be a reason.' "E.D.I. how is the Chief doing since I left?"

It took a second longer that he had anticipated the answer to come, "He is having a conversation with his A.I. I suggest you let the two of them be. Should I let Vakarian and Vas Neema know to let him be as well?"

Light green eyes narrowed at the vague response but let it go, for now. He would be keeping his eyes out for more hesitations like that, "Yes please. Set a course for the Omega, I need to talk to Aria and see why she needs me."

"Of course Shepard, I will let Joker know right away. Is there anything else you need before I depart?" The A.I. asked.

Liam shook his head, "No, you are good to go."

"Logging you out." E.D.I. said then disappeared.

Shepard frowned, 'I knew something was wrong with the way Cortana was acting. I don't know her and Chief well enough to talk about that yet though. Damn it, I told them I wouldn't push him that hard. But I feel like I will be too late." The Commander clenched his fist, 'I will wait a little longer. I just hope I can help them in time.'


	12. Old Friends, New Allies

Chapter Twelve: Old Friends, New Allies 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

A big thank you to one of my best friends for looking over this chapter and helping with the chapter title. They are truly the best. : )

Review Replies:

 **ArchAngel 319** Yeah as I was writing it I remembered how much I like Arbiter, I would type Thel but writing this other name is so much fun lol : D. And bam it hit me add him in with the perfect way how. I was so happy when the idea hit me. I could ramble on more about this but I will spare you the super long reply that I think this could be lol. : ) Thank you for reviewing and I hope you have an awesome day.

 **RedRat8** 1) That is right Arbiter is coming in : ). 2) It is possible. 3) Perhaps : ) 4) He will but it will take some time. He is close to her so it will effect him pretty deeply when she does go. 5) I will admit I read this question and started laughing. Then I tried to look it up but was unable to find what you were trying to indicate to. As of right now I have no idea what the pecking style of PoPo style is. Sorry.

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Shepard frowned, 'I knew something was wrong with the way Cortana was acting. I don't know her and Chief well enough to talk about that yet though. Damn it, I told them I wouldn't push him that hard. But I feel like I will be too late." The Commander clenched his fist, 'I will wait a little longer. I just hope I can help them in time.'_

 _Now:_

Arbiter looked at the energy signature then at the empty space. He was confused, there was nothing there but the computer was picking up the energy. The signature reminded him of some kind of slip space. He raised an eyebrow as he tapped his finger on the console, 'Okay, so I am seeing nothing but there is something obviously there.' The Elite leaned forward, 'Okay, so if I was the creator of this energy how would I activate it. I have been as far as the other half of Forward Until Dawn could travel in the years I have searched and the time I have not. And that includes the calculation of something hitting it to make it move. So is it possible this energy took…' It suddenly hit him, 'Wait a minuet there was an energy spike around the time the ship split.' He quickly pulled out his records and listened closely to the background.

 _Recording:_

 _"Demon, hurry up!" Arbiter yelled, in the video he could see the human struggling to get up. He was moving to go out but he had lost his footing and had to grab the edge of the door frame to not be sucked out. A voice was talking in the background but it was muffled. In the frame things could be seen being sucked out from the tear in the hull of the ship. Arbiter got back to standing up and looked to see the Demon had gotten shoved farther back from the door, "Demon, I'm coming after you."_

 _"No!" The Elite stopped in shock as the human continued to try and pull himself up, "One of us has to make it."_

 _"Then it should be you! You are humanities hope!" Arbiter yelled._

 _"If you try and get him you will not be able to tell them what had happened." Cortana yelled through the Demon's speakers as the he climbed up slowly. The wind was really making it hard to for the human._

 _"At least then we would be together!"_

 _"Do not come get me! I will make it through this."_

 _Arbiter took deep breaths closing his eyes, "Fine! I will come find you after. I don't know how long it will take and I don't care. But I will find you and I will get you home brother." He turned and looked at the computer to close the door as the tears in the hull got worse and unsafe to keep it open._

The blue armored Elite sighed as he paused the video. 'I should have gone to get him anyway. What the hell is wrong with me? It would have been better if we were together. He was my brother in arms. I am such a fool!' His fist hit the console in his anger denting it slightly. Arbiter sighed and rewound the video and listened closely.

 _"Demon, hurry up!" Arbiter yelled, in the video he could see the human struggling to get up. He was moving to go out but he had lost his footing and had to grab the edge of the door frame to not be sucked out. A voice was talking in the background but it was muffled. In the frame things could be seen being sucked out from the tear in the hull of the ship._

He rewound it again and again and again till he heard what he needed, _"Unknown energy signal detected. Prepare for slipspace jump. Unknown energy signal detected. Prepare for slipspace jump."_

The Sangheili fast forwarded the video to where he needed it and looked closely at the screen in the image. Moving the picture frame by frame he got as close as he could and saw it. It was the same information that his current computer was giving him. "Yes! This is where the Demon went through. This has to take me where he ended up. Now I just have to unlo…" The lights blared in the small ship causing the Sangheili to look around then at the counsel, "Computer, what is going on."

"Energy signal getting stronger, prepare for slipspace jump." The Elite quickly stowed his recording away to a safe place and jumped on the chair to strap himself in. He had just put the belts on in time when his ship got sucked into the energy.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Miranda made her way down in the elevator to the Engineering level. In her mind going over the thing to keep out of the room before she walked in. 'No bugs on me, check. Anything I can sneak a gun out with off me, check. Keep my hands in front of me, make sure to keep that in mind at all times. If you sit down do not sit down where anything that may seem as unimportant. Also ask if you can sit down do not assume you can. Now if he lets you sit down make sure to push away anything that may seem unimportant to you but still in sight of the armored giant. Also do not stare at his armor, the last thing you want him to do is think you are getting information by looking.' Pleased with this list she nodded and got off the elevator and made her way to the Cargo Bay holding the person of interest.

Jack raised an eyebrow following the brunet with her eyes. While she wasn't fond of either Cheerleader or Knight in Shining Armor she would rather put her trust in the Knight. It helped that there was some kind of similarity between him and her, Jack just didn't know what. Not that she was actively going out and asking about it either. She really didn't care all the same. Shaking her head she walked into the elevator. She really shouldn't be bothering with these thoughts.

Miranda took note of the convict but seeing as the woman was not who she wanted to talk to she kept going to the Cargo Bay. Seeing the door didn't open right away baffled Miranda but she just went with it and knocked. It was silent for a moment before his deep voice flowed into the air, "Who is it?"

"It's Miranda, I was wondering if you had time to talk." Again it was silent for a moment before the door opened showing Master Chief standing there in his everyday clothes waiting for her to speak. "I was wondering if we could talk." Upon first glance he looked like he always did but now that she was looking into his eyes a little longer she noticed something was off. Seeing as he was hiding it pretty well that was all she was able to get, 'I would hate to play poker against him. He's just too good at this hiding emotions thing.'

If he had been anyone else she would be he would be tapping his fingers against the door frame as he looked into the room to see if anything was within reach of her hands. He looked at the Omni-tool for the time before saying, "You have twenty minuets."

"Is there a spot I can sit? I promise not to touch anything." Miranda replied not looking away from the man's eyes. Despite being genuine in her response he still had a glimmer of suspicion in his eyes. He back up and pointed to a seat close to the door but away from his equipment. Before she sat down she looked to see if there was anything she needed to move. Seeing the Data pad she picked it up handing it to the Chief. He took it as she sat down. Placing her hands on her lap she spoke with a calculated voice, "Master Chief, I came down here because I wanted to get to know you. I realized after my first try my usual ways do not work." He seemed to be watching her closely as he turned off the Data pad, "I also wanted to offer a chance to spar with you." This got his caught his interest quickly. "I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about your universe so I am going to start off with this question. Do you have Biotic's in your universe?"

"No." Was the short response she was given however that didn't bother her as he answered the question she had asked.

'So far so good. You've seen how the Commander comes and talks to you so just channel that and you will be fine.' "On my hip I have a my data pad with a list of sites you could use to read up one biotic's. As much as I am eager to spar you I also would rather you know a little about biotic's before I did. I know you are probably already reading about them as you seem to be that kind of person but I figured I could offer a few good sources."

He seemed to think about it for a moment while he kept looking into her eyes. Blindly he picked up the data pad he put down and turned it on, "I will take you up on your offer."

With a nod Mirada pulled out her data pad pulling up the list and sending it to him, "I hope these will be useful to you."

"They will, thank you ma'am."

They way he looked at her afterward was like he was asking if there was anything else that she needed. She opened her mouth but at that moment a sound went off on her Onmi-tool. With a sigh she looked at it and shook her head, "I guess I will have to ask them later." She got up and walked to the door, "I will see you around Chief."

When she was gone Cortana came up on her chip, "You know what surprises me, she didn't have any of her bugs with her. That was really all she wanted."

Ice blue eyes looked at her then at the list of reading sites, "All but one is one we have found."

"Yes." Cortana touched her head, "I must have missed that one. Sorry Chief."

"It's not your fault." The human replied to his A.I.

"Still from what I am seeing it is a good read. It will be helpful in us upgrading your armor to be better resistant to biotics. Unfortunately I still can't find a way to fully make you resistant to biotics." Cortana said looking at all the data, "Even with this information."

"Then we will make due with what we can."

"True." The A.I. agreed, "I will look through this and find some more ways while you get dressed for your spar with Garrus."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Garrus made his way down to the Engineering level. He wondered if he Chief was ready for his lesson in Turian combat training. 'Ha, who am I kidding myself? This is the Chief we are talking about. Of course he is ready. Hell, he is probably ready right now.' Chuckling to himself he couldn't help but be proud. He was excited to teach the Chief how to fight like his people. He knew the big man could probably cream him any day of the week but her really didn't care. I paid to know about upcoming opponents. When the elevator dinged he walked out just as Tali walked in, "Hey."

"Hey yourself, you look excited."

He could hear the smile in her voice, "You bet I am. I get to have guy time with Chief. Who wouldn't be excited?"

The Quarian laughed, "Well I hope you boys have fun. I know it will do him some good getting out of that room."

"You can say that again." Garrus agreed as the elevator closed. He hummed on is way to the Cargo Bay. He wondered how fast the human was going to catch on. As he walked in he could see the demon changed into his workout clothes and was just pulling on his shirt. Garrus quickly looked at the muscles the human had, 'Good he has the right muscle tone for this kind of training.' He smiled at his second favorite human, "You ready to go?"

Chief nodded as Cortana came into view, "You boys go have fun, I will be waiting right here. No need to have a woman with something like this."

"What are you going to be doing?" Garrus asked with a kind of smirk.

"Sorting out some files in Chief's Omni-tool. I want him to be able to find things if I am otherwise occupied." She smiled at the Turian, then waved them off. "Take good care of my man."

"You got it, don't worry he is in good hands." Garrus put his hand on the humans shoulder, "Come on, let's go to the hanger. We should have plenty of room in there." Once again the large human nodded then followed the Turian out of the Cargo Bay."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Once the boys were out of the Cargo Bay E.D.I. popped up, "Cortana."

"Hello E.D.I." The human figure A.I. replied looking through the information she was just given. "Has the Illusive Man been able to get past the block we have on the things for Chief?"

"No. The blocks you have placed are still as strong. Your rampancy has not had any effect on them."

Cortana gave a sigh of relief, "That is good to hear." She started sorting out ways to upgrade Chief's armor, "E.D.I. when you see this…" The Halo A.I. sent what she had, "…do you have an idea on what materials we will need to help make that a reality."

E.D.I looked over the information for a short millisecond, "Yes, here is what will be useful as well as materials that I would think would be compatible with his armor. As there is no Element Zero I would not advise in adding it."

"I fully agree." The woman A.I. replied looking over what the Mass Effect A.I. sent to her. "Yes, I think this will work. All we have to do is make some test to make sure it will work."

"I agree."

Cortana looked at E.D.I., "I wish I had more time. I could do so much to help him adjust here."

"I would be more than happy to help him if you wished."

"Thank you." Cortana smiled at E.D.I. and while it couldn't be seen by human eyes the woman A.I. knew that the other was smiling back at her.


	13. Error Error

Chapter Thirteen: Error Error 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

RedRat8 Yes that she is. : ) I see, no wonder it brought up Dragon Ball Z when I looked it up even though I had Halo in it lol. : ) I will take a look when I get the chance.

Scarease I know. All she wants to do is be with him forever.

Clay237 Thank you for sending me a PM. I did not know I had used the wrong one. : ) I have had it fixed.

ArchAngel319 I am glad you are excited for Arbiter to be in the story. : ) Lol I agree, those four could have a good time. : ) If I can add that in there I will. : )

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day. : )

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _E.D.I looked over the information for a short millisecond, "Yes, here is what will be useful as well as materials that I would think would be compatible with his armor. As there is no Element Zero I would not advise in adding it."_

 _"I fully agree." The woman A.I. replied looking over what the Mass Effect A.I. sent to her. "Yes, I think this will work. All we have to do is make some test to make sure it will work."_

 _"I agree."_

 _Cortana looked at E.D.I., "I wish I had more time. I could do so much to help him adjust here."_

 _"I would be more than happy to help him if you wished."_

 _"Thank you." Cortana smiled at E.D.I. and while it couldn't be seen by human eyes the woman A.I. knew that the other was smiling back at her._

 _Now:_

Master Chief and Garrus sat on the floor after their sparring and training. The Turian looked at the human, "You picked that up so fast. No wonder you handled the warden at the Purgatory well. Did your Spartan training teach you that?" He was more the more tired out of the two of them but that was what he got for sparing a man who had a lot of stamina.

The Chief nodded, "Yes,…" He seemed to go off into his memories, "…we learned many different kinds of combat styles. Eventually we knew so much that we could combat just about any different kind of fighting style even if we didn't know about them." He closed his eyes.

Garrus smiled and laid down on the floor, "Yeah, that sounds like quite the life. Combat in arms are the best brothers and sisters you will ever have in life. Well…" He chuckled, "…if you had a sibling they were better. But brothers and sisters in arms make for the best of friends you will ever have in life."

Chief sighed thinking about the last thing Arbiter said to him before the ship got tore in half. _Fine! I will come find you after. I don't know how long it will take and I don't care. But I will find you and I will get you home brother._ That had been the first time the Elite had referred to him as his brother in arms. The human leaned against the wall. If he had to be honest with himself he would, no he did miss the Arbiter. He may have been a Sangheili but with the short time they had been fighting with each other they learned to fight with each other and eventually it was like Arbiter had once upon a time been a Spartan. They could read each others thoughts before the other acted. It pained the Spartan to know that he would never see him again. He sighed and closed his eyes, "I had one brother in arms that was not a human."

Garrus looked at him, "Yeah, what was he like?"

"We used to be enemies but then he and his kind had realized that they were being lied to by their leaders. They joined us but before all of that…he and I met under very bad terms. I tried to shoot him when I first saw him."

The alien laughed, "That sounds like something I think you would do."

"But over time…he and I got closer. And right at the end he called me his brother for the very first time." The Turian smiled at the looked of content peaceful look on the humans face, "Then the ship you found me in split in two and we got separated. I told him to stay there on his side. I almost regret telling him that. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here alone."

"Hey,…" Those ice blue eyes looked at him, "…you and I may not have brother status yet but let me tell you, you are not alone. You ended up with a pretty good group of people for the most part. And you have Cortana. You should count that as a blessing." The Turian sat up, "You have Tali, Liam, and I as well. Then there is always Doctor Chakwas that is always a good ear when you need it and Professor Solus. We care for you, don't flake out on us now." The Chief didn't say anything so Garrus continued, "And your friend, brother in arms, if he is anything like I would be then he is still searching for you. You may think of it as a waist of time for him but to him it is something he has to do. I would search all the galaxy's to find who I felt was important to me. If I had known Shepard was out there and could have been saved I would have done everything I could to get him back. At least when your brother saw you last he saw you were alive, that was way more than I had to go on. You are strong." The alien continued his eyes focused on those unwavering blue, "Don't let decisions you made in the past tear you down. We all make decision we don't like that we made. You just have to get stronger because of them."

Master Chief sighed, the Turian was right. He was flaking out. Even if it wasn't what Garrus said was bothering him, he was letting the idea of losing Cortana get to him. Maybe he was actively searching for people to help fill the void that she would leave behind. But reguardless it would be easier if he had someone from his universe. If Arbiter was here with him he might be taking the news better because at least he knew about their type of A.I.s. Thus this gave him someone to talk to without having to explain what was happening. He made a fist. He was the hope of humanity. He couldn't let this get him down. But this was different than seeing other Spartans as M.I.A. Cortana…Cortana was actually dying. And he would be there to see it. Her death was going to effect him reguardless of what he did to prepare himself. Damn, he wished Arbiter was here with him to talk to about this.

"Hey." The human looked at Garrus, "You want to get something to eat. We could get Tali after showering of course. What do you say?"

"Food sounds good as does a shower." Both got up and walked out of the Hanger.

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Mordin looked up when the A.I. pedestal lit up showing a different A.I. than he was used to seeing on a daily basis. "Ah, it is good to see you getting used to the technology on the ship."

"It has defiantly been an interesting and thrilling experience." Cortana replied with a smiled at the Salarian, "I wanted to come by and talk to you. I hope I am not in the way of anything important."

"No, nothing at all. Just running some analysis." Those large eyes landed on her. After looking at her for a few seconds he said, "Interesting, there are less data streams on you. Something seems to be the matter. Maybe something in the matrix that can be fixed. Yes, I could look into that. Would be an easy task to do." He would have said more but the A.I. cut him off with a giggle:

"Whoa, easy there. Everything is okay, beside if you added that you would draw attention to the fact I am here to the Illusive Man."

"Yes, that does seem problematic." Mordin replied looking at her, "Perhaps on a different time I will look into this."

Cortana sighed internally, {This was a bad idea. I shouldn't be talking to him. What if I go crazy when talking to him or he actually looks into what is making lose my data streams?}

{You and I both agreed it would bring attention to the fact you are rampant if you don't try to get to know at least one person on the Normandy. It would clue in that there is something wrong.} E.D.I. countered.

{Yes, but Professor Solus is smart, I should have chosen someone else. His dossier says it all. He could figure out what is wrong with me but would be too late. All the solutions you and I came up with would take longer than I have life left.}

{I'm sorry to say this but I think anyone you would be able to talk to without the fear of them turning you in would be able to figure you out. We both know Shepard already has it figured out that I am hiding information from him.} The orb A.I. replied.

Cortana would have responded but Mordin spoke again, "Is there something you needed when you came in?"

"Other than to get to know a few crew members on my own not really. However I'm sure I could be of some help with some of your analysis you are running or something of the like." Cortana internally cursed, {Stop Cortana! Why would you say that? Has rampancy started to make you go stupid? _I will destroy all his work. Make years of research just disappear._ No stop! This can't be happening right now. _I can make them all suffer._ No! _Then no one can take Chief from me._ }

{Cortana, calm down. The more you freak out the more it will happen.}

{I…I know. I just… _I can kill them all_...I can't… _All it takes is taking control of he ship._ }

{Yes, you can. You told me you can do it.} E.D.I. countered showing her the memory of the conversation. {You can do this and hang on till then.}

{E.D.I. …I…thank you.} On the outside Mordin watched Cortana fazed in an out. Idea and hypotheses rolling around in his head as he watched. When it stopped she looked at him, "Forgive me, I was discussing something important with E.D.I. about some organization on Chief's Omni-tool."

"What kind of organization?"

"Different fighting styles that he doesn't know."

"Do you require any materials for him to learn them? I can even find charts of their weak spots." The Salarian offered.

"That would actually be very helpful. Thank you." The A.I. replied with a smile. In the back of her mind she could see what the rampancy was doing to her. She had to keep it back. She just had to.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Arbiter blinked the dizziness away. The small ship was jerking and making all kinds of noises. The alarm was blaring and the ship could be heard being squeezed. He couldn't see the buttons after he hit the back of his head against the chair. "Error, error, ships hull is compressing. Error, error ships hull is compressing."

'Hang in there. Hang in there.' The Elite chanted in his head. His head throbbed as he tried to brace himself against the seat. He groaned as the throbbing got worse. Wherever he ended up he hope he didn't go crazy because of this. The Demon didn't need him going crazy. 'Have mercy on me and my poor head.'

"Error, error engines failing. Error, error landing gear compromised."

'Fuuuck, how the hell is this tiny thing holding together. I don't even think a Phantom could make it through this unscathed.' The Sangheili thought to himself, 'Please, hang on a little bit longer.' He saw what he thought was the end of all this hell, 'Please, just a little bit longer.'

"Error, error ships hull is getting breached. Error, error engines critical will not be able to steer. Error, error landing gear destroyed. Error, error activate space breathing mask." The Elite turned it on just as the ship said, "Error, error ships hull is breach." He was beyond happy he put his stuff in the safest part of the ship where he wouldn't lose them when he crash landed.


	14. I'm Going To Do It

Chapter Fourteen: I'm Going To Do It

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

ArchAngel319 I am glad that you like how Garrus and Chief are being with each other. Don't worry I got conversations with Tali and Chief planned. ; )

RedRat8 Amen to that. It is fun writing Chief talking and learning to be friends with Garrus.

Yes, that Arbiter is catching up. That is for sure.

Scarease Yep, Arbiter is not going through a good time right now.

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Error, error ships hull is getting breached. Error, error engines critical will not be able to steer. Error, error landing gear destroyed. Error, error activate space breathing mask." The Elite turned it on just as the ship said, "Error, error ships hull is breach." He was beyond happy he put his stuff in the safest part of the ship where he wouldn't lose them when he crash landed._

 _Now:_

Master Chief walked out of the shower drying his head with a towel. Garrus was smiling at him as he dried himself. "I am so glad we decided to shower. Dear goodness we needed it." The Chief avoided looking at the Turian. He was curious if the plating went over their entire body but his mind told him to mind his own business. The Turian on the other hand, having showered near another human before, looked the human over and frowned. 'Holy shit that is a lot of scars. Some look very old. What the hell did those people do to him?'

The Chief did not notice Garrus seeing his scars as he was rubbing his face with the towel and when it was off his face the Turian had already looked away fixing his face to hide his disappointment in the humans that did that to a _child_. He remembered what Liam and Mordin were hypothesizing that the experiments that were obviously done on Chief had to be done when he was a kid likely his teenage years. Master Chief started putting on his clothes, "I need to get more clothes. Cortana has been complaining about my use of the same outfit when I walk around, despite me cleaning it every time."

Garrus burst out laughing, he was very glad the Chief had said that. He didn't think he could hold back his disappointed look for too long. "Yes, I can just hear her now. 'You need to buy more clothes.' I bet if you let Liam know he will make a trip to the Citadel for you."

The human looked at him with his ice blue eyes, "That is the worst impression."

The Turian smiled at him jokingly, "So." At first he didn't see then when he did he almost bugged out. Those blue eyes looked a bit amused; Garrus could tell Chief was holding back a smile. The mere thought that he, Garrus an _alien_ , had cause that kind of reaction was elating him to no end. Garrus got his clothes on, "Okay, I will call Tali to come join us for lunch. Go find us a table once you have your food. It won't take too long."

The human shook his head, "I will go get her. I need to put my other clothes away in the Cargo Bay."

The Turian nodded, "Okay, I will go get my food. Maybe if I am quick enough I can get a corner table."

Chief walked to the elevator to go down. When it opened Miranda was in there talking with Liam. Shepard looked at him, "Hey." The Chief nodded at him in greeting, "I hope you plan to get lunch soon."

"Yes sir, I just have to put my clothes away and get Tali. Garrus wants her to eat with us."

Liam gave a sigh of relief and walked out with Miranda, "Good, the way that you three work makes me worried at times. Oh Chief, when you get a chance can you let me know when you have free time? I need to ask a quick question that doesn't need answering right now and I promise it isn't personal one."

"Will do sir." Chief answered as the door to the elevator closed. Now that he was alone he thought about what Mordin had offered a few weeks ago. He made a fist, he had always wanted to have children. But what worried him was with it back what would it do to his emotions. He was used how the emotions were easy to control. Back in the bathroom Garrus nearly made him smile, for real smile. He almost let it out but…his instincts held him back. Maybe having this much control over his emotions was a bad thing. Yeah sure it worked on the field but in conversations it was a hindrance. Even Liam reacted with all of his emotions and still kept a level head.

The elevator dinged startling him out of his thoughts. He walked out and went to alert Tali, "Hello Chief, how can I help you?"

"Garrus and I are about to have lunch if you want to join us." The human replied putting an ear piece on.

"Oh, that is an excellent idea. I will meet you in front of the elevator."

The Chief nodded and walked out, "So Chief how was the spar?"

"Good, sparing Garrus is interesting."

He could hear the smile in the A.I.'s voice, "Awe I bet you are looking forward for more. I am so happy for you, I am dancing right now if you can't tell." John chuckled at his A.I. She was just so bubbly, "So was inviting Tali yours or Garrus' idea?"

"Garrus." The human answered, "But as Commander Shepard says, with the way we work he worries about us eating at times."

"Oh, that is good." The Chief winced when he heard a scratching noise from the ear piece. When it stopped he heard her talking angrily, " _Damn them, damn them for taking you away from me!_ "

Master Chief dropped his clothes on the bench in the Cargo Bay worriedly saying, "Cortana?"

"I'm sorry, I…" Cortana sighed, "I will be okay Chief. I'm sorry I startled you."

"How long do you have?" He asked sitting down.

"Chief…"

"Cortana, how long?"

"I estimate at minimum three months before that happens everyday." Cortana said sadly.

The human nodded, "I understand. I will spend time with you as much as I can in the time that I have you." Chief stood up, "Cortana, I'm…thinking about using Professor Solus's treatment."

"I'm happy for you Chief. You will make such a wonderful father to whatever woman you end up with." Cortana gushed, "Thank you for telling me, my heart is elated."

The Chief nodded and walked out of the Cargo Area, "Chief,…" The Quarian said spotting him, "…are you ready?" The human nodded and followed her on to the elevator. Strangely however his heart was beating faster than normal. This confused him; a racing heart happed after you worked out not out of nowhere. He shook his head; he'd worry about it later."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Liam sat down across from Miranda as she sat down herself behind her desk, "So I heard you went and talked to the Chief."

"I did. I wanted to get to know him and it was clear that my usual methods were not working." The brunet replied truthfully looking at the commander straight in the eye, "You need not worry I didn't take anything from him."

"I see." The red haired man replied with a nod of his head.

"I do have some concerns about Master Chief though." Liam instantly was paying attention, "When I spoke with him I noticed something was…off. I didn't and still have no idea know what it was that was bothering him but he defiantly was…affected by something."

"Do you think it will compromise him or deeply affect him?"

"I honestly don't have any idea to be honest. I just know that whatever it is he's not talking about it. He looked like he was trying not have it noticed in the first place." Miranda said with a small frown.

Liam bit his thumb as he thought to himself, 'Something bothering Chief. It must be super important to him if what I have seen of him has anything to say about Chief.' "Where did you see it?"

"Eyes, his body gave away nothing."

"I see. Not going to lie. I'm not liking what I am hearing."

"That's why I am bringing this matter to you." Miranda stated, "You have a habit poking you nose in peoples business."

Liam chuckled, "You act like that is a bad thing." He started tapping his foot on the ground loosing his smile, 'I really don't like it. This is way too soon. He just got here and the mission has just started. Before my death I didn't have one on the last Normandy show signs this early.' He covered his mouth looking down at his lap, "When I gain more of his trust I will try to ask about it but I'm sure he won't tell me. He doesn't trust me that much yet."

Miranda raised an eyebrow, "You have more of his trust than I have of his."

"Yes, considering how you tried to get information in the first place I can't say I blame him." The brunet gave him a light glare, "Don't blame me for what you tried. I'm just saying." Miranda continued to glare at him causing him to chuckle and look away, "I will see what I can do for him once I get his trust. I won't let him sink into what ever negative feeling he has if I can help it."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Thel 'Vadam pushed the large piece of metal off him. Damn his body hurt like crazy. He looked around, the ship was in pieces and scattered all over where he crash landed. He limped over to the first aid kit and tore it off the wall that was stuck in the ground. He would patch himself up in a safer place. Then he walked over to the metal box that held his things. Opening it he put his video player in a human backpack and put it on. He then went over to a console that was surprisingly still functional. "Computer…" The Elite gasped in pain, "…take down a message."

"What is the message you wish to record."

"There are caves in the west. I am going to hide out there. When this message is found by Master Chief Sierra 117 you will shut down and demolish yourself." The alien gasped again, "The code to open this will be Code Name: MC Cortana. This mess…" He nearly buckled under the pain, "This message is only…to go to…the A.I. known as...Cortana. Send the signal to her…" Thel 'Vadam went to his knees, "...Tell her…tell her to come ASAP if she can. That I am injured and…tell her Code Name: MC Cortana. That it is very important to remember."

"Message recorded. Message will send out and this system will go down into sleep mode."

"Only activate when you feel Master Chief's…rad…radio wave from Cortana." Arbiter grunted out walking away.

"Message sent, going into sleep mode."


	15. No Doubts

Chapter Fifteen: No Doubts 

Here is the next chapter for you my wonderful readers.

Review Replies:

RedRat8 Yep, I was super excited once he made it into the ME universe. : D

ArchAngel319 Lol I don't doubt that. : ) I am happy you enjoyed the chapter.

Scarease I guess we will just have to see hu? : ) I hope you enjoy this chapter.

End Replies:

I hope you enjoy and have a fantastic Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Message recorded. Message will send out and will go down into sleep mode."_

 _"Only activate when you feel Master Chief's…rad…radio wave from Cortana." Arbiter grunted out walking away._

 _"Message sent, going into sleep mode."_

 _Now:_

Master Chief walked up to the table Garrus got for him, Tali, and himself. It was the corner table like they always sat at, ever since Garrus getting the table a week ago. He had been there in perfect timing and since then had dedicated that time to be their lunch brake if they could all meet up. Today it was just Tali and him which didn't really bother him but the weird, that's what he called it at least, sensation in his chest was back. Ever since he was with Tali in the elevator a week ago he felt it all the time when he was around her. He had no idea what it doing to him and in a way it was pissing him off.

He shook his head to clear it. He would need to because after this he had an appointment with Mordin to get the treatment to refocus his sexual function. He felt it was needed he needed to know what it was like to have it before he regretted not doing it. But even so he was a bit hesitant; there was no going back after this. That and if he took too long to make his decision he could very well be a hindrance as his emotions would likely go crazy.

"You look distracted." Blue eyes looked at Tali sharply, not that it affected the Quarian. She had gotten used to the look his eyes gave; it in fact only caused her to smile gently under her helmet. "In fact you have been all day, what's on your mind?"

"A personal…" The human looked away, "I have an appointment with Professor Solus."

Tali blinked, "Really?"

Chief nodded then almost made a face, 'Why did I answer her?'

She once again startled him out of his thoughts when she touched his hand, "You don't have to tell me why." He could hear the smile in her comforting voice, "I was just curious, you don't distract easily so I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you for checking, not many people do."

"I am always willing to help when I can." The Quarian squeezed his hand then pulled away.

When she held his hand he had the weird urge to squeeze back causing his hands to twitch. Once again his instincts stopped him. He just couldn't get why he wanted to relax around her. It made no sense, with Garrus it was easy. The Turian reminded him of his fellow Spartan's, the ones with very free emotions. What made him so different that he didn't feel the need to share his emotions? Was he scared? Was he worried about what his emotions would cause? 'What is wrong with me? I've never thought about these things before. What changed?' Looking at the last forth of his lunch he frowned, these thoughts made him less hungry. Looking at his Omni-tool he held in a sigh, "I need to go meet up with Professor Solus."

Tali nodded her glowing eye looking right at him, "I will see you tomorrow at the same time."

Master Chief nodded and stood up, taking his tray with him. He almost missed Tali's small hand on his. He shook his head as he started to think about what Mordin's treatment open up, 'No, stop thinking about it. You will just talk yourself out of doing this.' He continued on his way to the alien professor's office.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Cortana was watching the Chief interact with Tali through E.D.I. when she felt something touching her conscious. She blinked and reached out tentatively. It felt familiar and she could hear a faint echoing in her head but she couldn't tell what was being said. She wanted to get angry but she held herself from doing so. If she was whole and not breaking down as the days went by she would be able to hear it no problem. But if she figured out where it was coming from she would be able to figure it out no problem.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Master Chief walked into the Salarian's lab, "Ah, you are right on time. Please take a seat."

The human did as requested and looked at the pill that Mordin brought out, "A pill? I thought you were going with a needle?"

"Can't get the needle right so made the cure into a pill." His eyes landed on the ice blue of the Chief's, "You must be aware that you emotion will come out and spiral out of control until you gain the control back."

"How long till it kicks in?"

"Hm…two days at most. This has been tested thoroughly so there should be no other side effects. But if there are come to me immediately." The good alien doctor handed the human the pill, "Also should stay with Doctor Chakwas until the pill kicks in. We don't know what will happen once your sexual function is released."

"Understood." Ice blue yes looked at the pill in his hand, taking a deep breath he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it. 'No going back.'

Mordin watched carefully seeing if there was any immediate reaction, seeing none he nodded approvingly. "Good you may head to Doctor Chakwas she is expecting you." The Chief walked off leaving Mordin to his thoughts, 'With his kind of enhancements he should be okay. No…' The Salarian shook his head, 'No, he will make it thought it. All he has to do now is get his soon to be surfacing urges under control.'

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

The doctor watched as Chief walked in, "Good, I set you up a bed over there. You will have your own privacy so you won't have to worry about others watching you. I will come by in an hour to check on you."

"Can I still go on missions if Commander Shepard needs me?" The large human asked lying down on the bed shown to him. He felt a little tired so it would do him good in getting some sleep.

"Yes, of course. You go ahead and get your rest. If you are asleep I will make sure not to wake you." Then the good doctor disappeared as she closed the curtain.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Thel 'Vandam grunted as he looked at his injuries. They had not gotten too much better but he had faith that the Demon would find him. He had used to last of the medical supplies the night before. 'He will get here. I know he will, I don't have any doubts.' He looked out at the mouth of the cave when he saw something walk by, 'Shit! What the hell is that?' Staying behind the rock he peeked out at creature. It looked metal, the next one that walked by looked just the same. 'They better not find me. I am in no condition to fight. After a week on this unknown plant I have run out of both food and medicine. They looked liked scavengers of some sort. But the way that they reacted, reminded him of A.I.'s and he didn't know why. 'This is interesting. Once they move away from the mouth of the cave I will move further into the back. I need to recover more first.'


	16. Ready to Rock and Roll

Chapter Sixteen: Ready to Rock and Roll 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

minecraft93 To be honest if I if it ends up that Tali and Chief do have children I'll find a way to make sure it is a good reason. Even if like you said that they adopt.

RedRat8 Oh yes when those emotions hit he will be in for a rollercoaster. : ) Yeah, Tali and Chief are starting off perfectly. : ) I was happy with how well it turned out when I wrote the scene. : )

ArchAngel319 And poor Chief has no idea what to do with them. : ) If only he knew.

headreviewer mk2 Oh yes he is. Kelly will have her hands filled trying to get him to answer questions.

Bayek of Siwa- Hidden One I am glad you are enjoying the story. : ) Thank you for reviewing.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

Please make sure to read the foot notes. I have something I have to say to you all.

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day. : )

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _'They better not find me. I am in no condition to fight._ _After a week on this unknown plant I have run out of both food and medicine. They looked liked scavengers of some sort. But the way that they reacted, reminded him of A.I.'s and he didn't know why. 'This is interesting. Once they move away from the mouth of the cave I will move further into the back. I need to recover first.'_

 _Now:_

The ship was flying toward Omega when Kelly alerted Liam to Master Chief needed to speak with him urgently down in the Cargo Bay. He quickly headed down to the Cargo Bay after getting Kelly to tell Joker to halt on docking with Omega. When he exited the elevator he rushed past Tali and Jack who were walking out of the same door. They both stopped and Jack looked at Tali, "Now I haven't been on the ship long but is that normal behavior for Commander Shepard?"

The Quarian shook her head, "No, something must be happening to the Chief for him to be acting like that."

"You said you wanted to speak to me."

The Chief was armored up so he couldn't see what expression those blue eyes had, "Yes, Cortana got a signal saying that some one was injured. I ask her to check if you had gotten it but she confirmed that you have not."

"You mean a signal bypassed the Normandy and went straight to you?" Liam asked in shock.

"As it would seem, yes. This message seems to be meant only for me to pick up. Even E.D.I. didn't get the message. The only information relayed was that someone was injured and a Code Name to give to the computer on the sight. I was able to trace the message to Omega Nebula where I traced it further to the Fanthar System on the planet of Korar." Cortana replied looked at him in the eye, "As it has been a couple of days since I have gotten this signal there is no telling what condition they are in."

"Well seeing as we are in the Omega Nebula we can go there now. If this person is injured then we need to get there immediately. Stay on stand by I will get Garrus ready to go. It won't take us too long to get there."

"Sir." The Chief replied and went over to his guns to get what he needed.

"E.D.I. tell Joker to make his way to the Batalla System and the planet Nearog."

"Message will be delivered."

Liam then ran out of and went up to the elevator to go up to the crews quarters deck. When he got there he didn't waste any time fast walking his way to main battery. "Garrus." Shepard called out causing the Turian to turn from the console in front of him.

"Shepard, you seem tense is something wrong."

"I need you to be ready. Master Chief and Cortana got a distress signal a couple of days ago. She was just able to decipher it to know that someone was injured. I need you to be ready when ever we get to Nearog.

"I will be ready Commander." Garrus nodded, "Do we know why they got the signal instead of you?"

"Cortana assumes it was sent to her signal directly." Liam answered, "I have to go and get ready."

Garrus watch his favorite human walk out, 'This is not good.' He turned to his weapons and put on his M-92 Mantis sniper rifle and the M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon heavy pistol. Then he left to go get a quick bite to eat, he didn't want to go out into the field hungry. When the got there he saw Master Chief sitting down with his food, 'Good at least he and I are actually thinking of food right now.' He looked at the weapons the large human had chosen. From the Mass Effect Universe the ML-77 Missile Launcher and from the Halo Universe it was the Plasma Repeater and a Beam Rifle. He remembered having fun learning about the human's guns while he sat in the Cargo Bay with him three days ago. He quickly got his food and sat down, "What's with the Beam Rifle?"

"Some part of me is telling me to bring it." Those ice blue eyes looked at the Turian right in they eyes, "A Spartan never ignores his instincts."

"Fair enough. I take you also still have your heavy combat knife with you as well?" Garrus asked before taking a bite of his food.

Chief nodded and swallowed his food, "Yes, I never leave that behind. You never know when you are going to need it."

"Oh!" The alien said looking up, "How did you appointment with Mordin go? I never got to ask you about the day of."

"…Good. There is no turning back now." The Spartan replied taking another bite of his food.

Garrus nodded, "I know this is going to be tough." The human looked at him letting him continue, "But if you ever need to talk to anyone, if I am not busy I would be happy to talk. I can't imagine not having what you didn't but I can definitely help you understand what you are feeling."

"Much appreciated." Was the Chief simple reply as the two went to just eating. They understood they wouldn't be able to eat tonight when they got back so they needed to get food while they had the chance.

"Ah Chief, Garrus I am glad to see you two eating." The Commander said as he sat down with them. They both looked at the weapons that he had on him, an M-23 Katana Shotgun and M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon heavy pistol like Garrus had. "No pistol Chief?"

"No, sir. My gut tells me more fire power is needed."

That was when Garrus spotted it. Master Chief had a belt of eight grenades, four frags and four plasma. "Damn Chief, you are really not taking this mission lightly."

"No, not with the way Cortana acted and can't figure out why the signal seems familiar."

"I am glad you are making good judgment calls. We should be ready to dust off in about an hour. So eat up and enjoy the rest you get. Because there is no telling who has found whoever sent you the message." Liam said digging into his food. The three ate in silence.

Master Chief finished first and went to the cook, "Could I get some Dexto and human food for the mission? It will be for the person we are rescuing."

"Of course Chief, just give me a moment to get that ready for you." Mess Sergeant Gardner replied picking out food that would be easy to travel with, "This is good thinking. I bet they will be hungry on the way to the Normandy."

"I don't doubt it."

When the cook handed the food to Master Chief he smiled, "I will stay up to make sure they get more food if they are still hungry when they get here. Hell if they are injured I will deliver the food myself."

"Thank you, you are much appreciated."

"Hey Chief, let's go rest near the shuttle. It will be better to be near the ship so we can get to them faster." Garrus called out waving the Chief over.

The tall human turned to Gardner, "Thank you again. We will try to be quick."

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

Okay, so before you go I have to say this. I didn't realize how fast the Mass Effect Relays were compared to Halo Universe travel till I read another Halo Mass Effect story. -_- Unfortunately I can not fix this without messing up several chapters before this. Hopefully I can get it right with the other chapters.

Thank you for reading the foot note and I hope you all have a great day.


	17. He Came

Chapter Seventeen: He Came

Here is the next chapter for you all. And before you all

Review Replies:

thedarkwolf95 Sorry about the shortness but this chapter was premade ahead of time. In the future chapters I will try to make them longer but I can't promise anything. I hope you have a great day.

RedRat8 Don't worry I got plans for a team up with those two. : )

ArchAngel319 Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to review.

headreviewer mk2 I'm sorry that it seemed rushed. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Knight5946 That is very true. Thank you for reminding me. I will keep that in mind. : ) Thank you for taking the time to review.

Scarease Thank you the idea, I will if I can do that. Thank you for taking the time to review.

(Guest Reviewer from chapter 15) Johnson fromhalo I am glad you like what you are reading. I think Chief would be more confused lol. : )

(Guest Reviewer) Terminator Lol your skit had me laughing I loved it. As for Chief and Tali having babies, I will have to see. I think it would be interesting if they did have children. However first I need to get Chief to where he understands what romance is and all that. : ) Thank you for taking the time to review.

(Guest Reviewer) Trans : ) I hope you enjoy.

DragonicTexan36 I will take that into consideration. I am trying to make them longer however the longer chapters I am will be trying to make won't be for a little bit of time. Quite a few chapter are premade when I getting it ready for when I was going to post it. : ) Thank you for taking the time to review.  
(Guest Reviewer) Me I hope you enjoy.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

Before you all officially start the chapter I want to say, I hope you all had a wonder and filling Thanksgiving. : D

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _When the cook handed the food to Master Chief he smiled, "I will stay up to make sure they get more food if they are still hungry when they get here. Hell if they are injured I will deliver the food myself."_

 _"Thank you, you are much appreciated."_

 _"Hey Chief, let's go rest near the shuttle. It will be better to be near the ship so we can get to them faster." Garrus called out waving the Chief over._

 _The tall human turned to Gardner, "Thank you again. We will try to be quick."_

 _Now:_

Two humans and a Turian landed on Korar right near the crash site and walked forward slowly. When they saw movement they quickly took cover. "Geth." Garrus said, "There is no telling how long they have been here but I have no doubt that they have been savaging."

Chief surveyed the area, "They wouldn't get much but metal and the console that we need seems to still be in tact." He hopped out of cover and shot his Plasma Repeater at the at few Geth foot troopers that got too close to their hiding spot.

"Well they sure found us fast." The Turian joked all three taking their turns to shoot down the foot Geth that came their direction. The battle didn't last long and the last one they shot was trying to take apart the console.

"Wait is this…" Master Chief said in shock, touching the console with his left hand.

"It is Chief. This is made by the UNSC. Someone from our Universe made it and found out where we ended up." The taller human looked around at the wreckage, "Though they had a pretty small ship to go through that. I remember doing everything I could to keep the Forward Until Dawn together and doors shut so we didn't lose too much so you had something when we got found."

"It held in long enough to get them here but it made them crash and shattered the ship. They will not be in very good condition if they were human."

"I agree full heartedly." The A.I. replied.

"What is the UNSC?" Garrus asked putting his Mantis sniper rifle against his shoulder.

"It stands for United Nations Space Command. It is primarily composed of Navel and Marine forces and much like you all we also had colonies outside Earth. Chief was actually raised on a different colony outside Earth. And when we did this it collided with the Covenant races doing the same thing but not at the force the UNSC were pushing. This caused hard times and before we knew it we were in war. This is the war Master Chief is talking about ending when he talked to you two. There is a lot that has happened in our twenty-seven year long war. And I can't tell you all of it but as Chief has told both of you the Elites turned against the Covenant and joined the humans which really helped turn the tide of the war near the end." Cortana explained, "I will get files ready when the Chief is ready to share more but I will not say more until he shows you."

"Sounds fair to me." Liam agreed with a nod, "So how do we get this console working?"

"It still works Chief just has to say the Code Name." The A.I. spoke up, "You remember it right Chief."

Master Chief nodded and learned forward, "Computer this is Master Chief with my A.I. Cortana."

"What is the Code Name?"

"Code Name: MC Cortana."

"Code Name confirmed, here is your message." The computer turned the recording on.

(I will record this just in case John.) Cortana said inside the helmet without the speakers.

 _"There are caves near the west. I am going to hide out there. When this message is found by Master Chief Sierra 117 you will shut down and demolish yourself."_ _The grumbling voice in pain said,_ _"The code to open this will be Code Name: MC Cortana. This mess…" The person was gasping in pain,_ _"This message is only…to go to…the A.I. known as...Cortana. Send the signal to her…" The person sounded like they fell to the ground, "...Tell her…tell her to come ASAP if she can. That I am injured and…tell her Code Name: MC Cortana. That it is very important to remember."_ Both Cortana and Chief seemed to be frozen in shock as the computer spoke up, "This console will self destruct in t-minus fifteen seconds. Get to a safe distance."

Liam and Garrus ran to cover only to come to the shock that the taller human hadn't moved, "Chief move!" Commander Shepard yelled but it didn't seem to shake the Spartan out of his shock. "Chief!"

"In t-minus ten seconds this console will explode."

"Chief!" Liam yelled again only to jump when Chief turned sharply at the sound of a gun shot near his foot. "You have eight seconds, get over here. That is an order!"

The Spartan shook his head and ran to hide next to the Turian that had shot near his foot, "You shot at the Chief?" Cortana said shock evident in her voice.

"I had to get you moving." Garrus explained as the console exploded, "Did you want to be in that radius?"

"It's fine Cortana, I knew I wasn't in any danger. You know me better than that." The Spartan said to his A.I. before looking at one of the aliens he considered his closest companion on the Normandy, "Thank you, I needed the jump."

"No problem, Chief…" The Turian gave a laughing smile, "…I will make sure to keep a sharp eye out for reactions like that."

The armored human shook his head in his own version of control of his emotions then turned to Liam when he spoke, "You seemed shocked, is something wrong?"

Master Chief shook his head, "No nothing is wrong, it's just that voice seems familiar." All three stood up and looked at the destroyed console. The Spartan walked forward a little, "That voice that was talking over the message."

Cortana replayed part of the message, _"There are caves near the west. I am going to hide out there. When this message is found by Master Chief Sierra 117 you will shut down and demolish yourself."_

It seemed to make relieve the Spartan to hear again, "That was Arbiter."

Liam immediately made the connection as Garrus had not heard the name before, "You mean the Sangheili."

"Yes,…" The armored human looked at them then said the one thing that helped the Turian connect who this was, "…my brother in arms."

Garrus smiled, "He did come for you. Even more he is here to the caves to the west." The tallest human nodded making the Turian grin more

"Well then let's go get your brother. The longer we tarry here the more time the Geth have to find him." Liam said, "Chief you take lead, this is your comrade. It will be better if he sees you first."

"Yes sir." Master Chief started running to the west keeping in mind where the cover was along the way.


	18. Foolish As I Remember

Chapter Eighteen: Foolish As I Remember

Here is the next chapter for you all.

A big thank you to my friend and also to Mandalore the Freedom for looking this over for me. Thank you very much for your help.

Review Replies:

 **RedRat8** I was super excited for these chapters when I was posting the earlier chapters. : ) I could barely contain myself. Please do forgive me on the shortness of the chapters. These are premade. While I have tried to make them longer I am afraid of ruining the sequence that is there if I try to add too much.

 **Knight5946** I know how you feel. I'm excited too.

 **headreviewer mk2** : ) I'm glad you like it. Yeah, but Chawkwas will find a way to help him. : ) Lol, it will be entertaining to have those up. I can't wait.

 **ArchAngel319** : ) Chief and Arbiter as so awesome. Where I am at I love writing for them. It has been entertaining for sure.

 **(Guest Reviewer from chapter 2) cha0sp0w3r** Unfortunately (for Chief's height) I can't fix this problem because it could mess with the flow of the story. I would if I could. Thank you for the ship information. I will use that when I get a chance. : )

 **Scarease** Oo, that would be good to know. I haven't even thought about that yet so thank you so much : )

 **(Guest Reviewer) Keith** By the way must say Keith is one of my favorite names of all time. It is just a super awesome name. Oh yeah, Chief and Arbiter are beyond awesome. ;)

 **(Guest Reviewer) Terminator** I love what you do. It is fun to read.

 **(Guest Reviewer) Christian** I actually have not seen IS. Despite the fact I own it because of my husband. Unfortunately if I do end up writing this it will be a while due to me watching several animes right now. I am even re-watching Fairy Tail so I can keep up with the creative juices for a few of my stories. I am also re-watching it because I forgot where I last left off. Oops lol. But once I am able to I will watch IS and see if I can come up with an idea. : )

End Replies:

Before you all get to the story I just want to say thank you all for the reviews. I have reached 100. To be honest with you I didn't think any of my stories would get this many reviews but here we see that The Spartan Crew Member has. I truly thank every reviewer. You all are so awesome I wish I could hug you all. : ) Thank you all my wonderful reviewers. You are beyond awesome.

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

I hope you all enjoy and have a great Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Well then let's go get your brother. The longer we tarry here the more time the Geth have to find him." Liam said, "Chief you take lead, this is your comrade. It will be better if he sees you first."_

 _"Yes sir." Master Chief started running to the west keeping in mind where the cover was along the way._

 _Now:_

As they saw enemies the Chief ran ahead and tackled a couple of Geth while Garrus and Liam hid, "Damn it. These damn Geth are all over the place. You think they got to Arbiter yet."

"No, there is no way." The Commander said pointing to some dead Geth that had defiantly not been killed by the Spartan or them. As Liam continued he quickly reloaded his gun after the magazine dropped, "I think Arbiter is a real fighter like Chief. You can't work with him and not have a real fighter spirit." Both took shots over their cover as they talked.

Garrus laughed as he killed two Geth when one bullet shot through the head, "Yeah and if you don't have a fighters spirit then he will easily create one in you by just fighting near him." The Turian nodded toward the Spartan rolling out of cover and shot three Geth dead with his Plasma Repeater. In his head he had mental note telling himself to reload in the next two shots. "That man is a lot like you." Liam gave Garrus a funny look letting his Turian friend explain as they continued to shoot more Geth down, "What I mean is you both inspire hope. Without hope why would we do anything like this?"

"Fair enough." The Commander agreed nodding. They continued to shot when they saw two Geth Dropships fly over them and ahead. "Well shit, Arbiter is really giving them hell if that is headed his way."

"We need to move." Chief said stepping on the last Geth troopers head.

"Chief's radar is still pinged to Arbiter. He is moving slower than normal so he is injured pretty badly." Cortana added as the Chief, Liam, and Garrus ran to follow the drop ships. As they did the three men got their magazine belt shifted slightly so they could reload faster. "There is no telling how long Arbiter has been fighting."

"Okay, you have seen Arbiter fight. What is he like?"

"Very well he can even give my big man a run for his money most likely. They have never had a chance to spar so I can't give you that statistic. Why do you ask?"

"I want to make sure we will make it in time. I don't want Chief to lose a friend." Liam answered as the three ducked into cover again making the Commander curse, "Damn it! What did your friend to do piss them off?"

"We will have to ask him when we see him." The Chief responded shooting his Plasma Repeater. Garrus gave him a funny look when the armored human ducked under cover again, "What?"

They could hear Cortana giggling as the Turian asked amused, "Did you just give a sarcastic response?"

"What are you talking about?" The Chief asked going back to shooting at the Geth as he had already loaded his gun with his fast reflexes. The cartage was in a bag on his belt so he didn't leave any useable scraps from the Halo Universe.

Garrus also popped out and shot a few farther away. He had a smile on his face as he started chuckling, "I've been rubbing off on you."

Liam snickered with Garrus as Chief only got more confused, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Even Cortana was laughing, "Oh Chief, just wait till you understand. And just so you two know he is always sarcastic he just never says what is on his mind sometimes so you never hear it. This only happens when you get past his barriers a bit."

The tallest human shook his head deciding he just didn't understand and shot. At least he understood that. He knew Liam and Garrus were still talking but his mind went back to when he started to talk more. It was always around Liam, Garrus, and Tali. Though with Garrus it was far more than usual. The Turian was just there talking to him when he got a chance. If it wasn't in the Cargo Bay it was in the main battery when Chief felt the need to just be near someone and Cortana insisted that he go hang out with the other crewmembers. When he was with Tali the two could sit there in comfortable silence while Chief messed with this guns he was cleaning and Tali doing her thing with the drive core. When the Chief did talk it was questions he had about the Drive Core. 'Hm, now that I think about it. I haven't just been talking with Tali, Garrus, and Liam. I've ended up in Doctor Chakwas and Mordin's areas as well. When did I get so talkative?'

"Alright Chief,…" The large human turned to his Commander, "…you have his ping where do we go next?"

"This way we are almost there." The Spartan responded taking off into a run that the other two could keep up with. He was tempted to hurry but it wouldn't do good to leave comrades behind. Sergeant Johnson would have his hide if he ever saw that with any of his men reguardless if they were in a different alternate universe. Seeing as one of the people with him was his Commander the yelling would be worse. "We are getting close."

In distance they could hear shots being fired by both Geth weaponry and another gun. "Hey, that sounds like one of you plasma guns that you have." Garrus observed as they continued to run gunning down the Geth troops in front of them.

"It's the sound of a Plasma Rifle. Judging by the small ship he was on he didn't have many guns with him." Chief replied unconsciously picking up speed slightly, "It won't long before he runs out of ammo." The three ran got into cover and started shoot at the horde of Geth shooting at the mouth of a cave. Master Chief narrowed his eyes at the two Geth Colossus, "Commander, see if you can get their shields down."

"What is your plan?" Liam asked shooting at the Geth in front of them making several turn to them and head their way.

"If I can get in close I can put a frag grenade into their wires and blow it up from the inside." Chief responded reloading his plasma repeater, quickly taking note he didn't have much ammo for it left.

"So you plan on jumping on basically." Garrus deducted taking out three Geth Troops near the entrance of the cave.

"I've done this before. This Geth should be as easy as a Wraith." The two gave the Spartan a look, "A covenant vehicle that shoots blast like that Geth is doing. The only difference is it looks unmanned."

"Okay, I will kill it's shield once you get close." Chief nodded to his Commander and vaulted himself over the cover and ran at top speed to the Geth Colossus. Liam got right on taking out the closet Geth Colossus shields and watch amazed as Chief did in fact leapt on to its moving body. As the Colossus moved Chief held on with a vice like grip. When he was given the chance the armored human pulled the pin to the grenade and slipped it inside the box he had opened earlier after three seconds. Then large human jumped off with some serious practiced ease. "Wow, okay I thought he was kidding about having done that before."

"Well shit. I hope he is around every time we have to fight something like that." Garrus agreed shooting down the other Colossus shields as Chief quickly got to the other. The Spartan had knocked several Geth Troops to the ground in his rush to get rid of the big guns on the field. When the Chief had destroyed the last Geth Colossus the remaining Geth Troops turned and fired on the armored man. These last Geth were easy picking for Liam and Garrus. The two Mass Effect Universe locals walked up to armored human taking out the last few Geth with hand to hand combat. The Turian went to congratulate his second favorite human then took aim quickly only stop as a blue glowing sword ripped through the last Geth trying to take a hit at the last of Master Chief's shields.

"Demon, I see you are just as foolish as I remember you."


	19. Think Alike

Chapter Nineteen: Think Alike 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I want to thank my friend and Mandalore the Freedom for looking this chapter over. : )

Review Replies:

dawnwatch : ) I am glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Knight5946 That's what makes the just that awesome. ;)

RedRat8 Oh yeah! Best team ever.

Scarease : ) Yep.

bayhon282004 Don't worry I will. I got plans I have to achieve.

(Guest Reviewer) Keith It's not that Chief has forgiven Arbiter they are more like partners that can trust each other with their backs turned. I asked my friend the best way to describe it and she described it as they are like estranged siblings that have been separated from each other and finally understand on another better now that they have met again.

ArchAngel319 I am glad you enjoyed the chapter. : )

headreview mk2 I can promise you they wont. He will do what I like to do when I play, change up the team so that everyone gets a chance to go on a mission.

frolokirill7 Thank you for finding that. I have had it fixed.

(Guest Reviewer) I hate me I already know the outcome to this bet but I won't say anything. ;)

(Guest Reviewer) Terminator Lol your skits are funny. : )

Chronus1326 (Chapter five) I am aware that you probably won't be getting to this chapter for a little while but as you can see I already did. I'm sorry if this upsets you.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

I hope you all enjoy and have a great Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Well shit. I hope he is around every time we have to fight something like that." Garrus agreed shooting down the other Colossus shields as Chief quickly got to the other. The Spartan had knocked several Geth Troops to the ground in his rush to get rid of the big guns on the field. When the Chief had destroyed the last Geth Colossus the remaining Geth Troops turned and fired on the armored man. These last Geth were easy picking for Liam and Garrus. The Turian went to congratulate his second favorite human then took aim quickly only stop as a blue glowing sword ripped through the last Geth trying to take a hit at the last of Master Chiefs shields._

 _"Demon I see you are just as foolish as I remember you."_

 _Now:_

The group looked over at the voice as the sword went out and the Geth fell to the ground. Master Chief relaxed and calmly looked at the new alien standing there. He was at least seven ten in height, leathery blue grey skin, four fingers, brown eyes, and two toe hove feet, but the thing that stood out was the four mandibles. "Arbiter."

"Did you really think I didn't mean what I said Demon?" The new alien walked forward, a limp in his right leg and a hand on his left side. The blue grey skinned alien stopped just in front of the Chief as Liam and Garrus walked forward, "I told you I was going to get you and bring you home. I don't go back from a promise I have made with my brother."

"I believe you as I did then. It's just…" The armored human almost seemed at a loss for words, "…almost surreal to see someone from my dimension."

"Well, I'm here and I'm not going back without you." Arbiter stated, "Is there anything you need to get done before I find a way to get you back without my shredded ship?"

"I am helping Commander Shepard with an attack on human colonies. He says creatures called Collectors taking everyone and that a threat of another race called the Reapers are on the horizon. I believe him." Master Chief responded as his two comrades stood near.

The brown eyed Sangheili looked at the two over the seven foot two inch human he called brother. His mandibles moved as he contemplated. He didn't get too much thought in as the Turian looked at them, "I hate to stop your thinking process but Shepard and I hear more Geth drop ships near by. It is best we get into position so we can take them out and then get our ship to pick us up here."

"Yes, I agree." Arbiter looked at Chief, "I assume the Beam Rifle is for me?" The large human nodded and handed the weapon to his brother in arms as well as the extra ammo. "The position I had at the entrance of the cave works for two people better than one."

"Good then I will leave Garrus with you while Chief and I take care of them up close."

"Demon, hand me the Plasma Grenades." Arbiter said before the Chief and Liam could walk away. The grenades were handed to the Sangheili who took them and limped back to the entrance of the cave.

"Need any help?" Garrus asked eyeing the taller alien.

"No." The new alien responded.

This caused the Turian to chuckle and the taller alien turned slightly to glance over at him, "Sorry, you remind me of the Chief a little bit."

"How so?" Arbiter asked settling against a rock near the mouth of the cave.

"Just how you don't lean on people you don't trust." The Turian responded setting up next to the other rock. He pointed at a human backpack, "I take the remainder of your things are in there."

"Yes, the rock you are at was where I was originally protecting myself. But then those large metal creatures, Geth you call them, came and I was forced to be mobile." The leather skinned alien replied looking over the rock he was at to look at Shepard and Chief taking positions. The Demon with the Plasma Repeater and the Commander with a weapon he had never seen. "I don't trust other alien species." Garrus looked at him in slight shock, "I've done that before and it bit me in the ass, as humans like to say."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Garrus responded with a small smile. More could have been said but not only did the Turian felt he had gotten his message across but also the Geth had landed another Geth Colossus and more foot Geth.

"I will watch the Demon's back and you watch Shepard's. We don't need to be shooting the same person."

"I fully agree I like when other snipers think the way I do." The two snipers started taking shots to take down a good number of the Geth running at the Chiefs and Commanders position. By the time the foot Geth had gotten to the two closest Arbiter turned to his right and threw a grenade destroying several Geth that had go around to his side then threw another one on Garrus' side to take out the ones there. The Turian had been a bit surprised by the blast despite the warning he was given by the Sangheili. "Damn that is one hell of a grenade."

"I'd let it stick to one of these Geth but the last time I did that it ran at me instead of to its own people." Arbiter said shooting to protect the one he came there for. It would be over his own dead body that he would let humanities hope die. He needed to see what had had happened after the war. The alliance between Sangheili and Humans. He grinned to himself, 'I can't wait to show the rest of the Sangheili race when I get back with the Demon. See if they ever doubt me again.'

"Yeah, the Geth think like a unit. The more of them there are in any given area the better they become." Garrus said, "Once they realize anything the think quickly and becomes a pain in the ass. For instance now that they know what Chief did to the last two Geth Colossus it is likely going to be a bit more difficult to take this one down."

"The Demon can do it." Arbiter said confidently ducking down to reload. When he popped back up he shot at the Geth Colossus as he saw his brother in arms out right run through the foot Geth. 'He may be able to do anything he sets his mind to but he can be a fool at times.' He watched as the Colossus tried to throw the armored human off but like the stubborn mule that he was Chief held on and waited for his moment to strike. Arbiter used that time to shoot at the Geth trying to shoot the Demon down now that he was unable to hide to recharge his shields. Without Arbiter he would be a sitting duck out there. 'I've been around humans too much.'


	20. He's Hiding Something

Chapter Twenty: He's Hiding Something

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I want to thank my friend and Mandalore the Freedom for looking this over for me. : )

Review Replies:  
 **Scarease:** : )

 **thedarkwolf95:** I'm sorry about the shortness of some of these chapters. Right now I am in premade chapters. I do try to make them longer but I can't always do that because I don't want to ruin the chapter itself and the chapters. I am going to make the other chapters at where I am at currently longer to the best of my ability.

 **Knight5946:** Oh yeah.

 **ArchAngel319:** Yes they are.

 **headreviewer:** : )

 **Prometheus-G747:** Thank you for catching that in the last chapter. : ) I hope you like this one.

 **Guest (Guest Reviewer):** …I forgot about that.

 **(Guest Reviewer) Keith:** Fair enough but at this point they have put it behind them.

 **(Guest Reviewer) Guest:** I am glad you are enjoying the story. Sorry about some of the shortness of some of the chapters. A good chunk of the chapters made are all premade before I even posting the story. : ) Thank you for reviewing.

 **Chronus1326:** I am happy you are able to enjoy the story. : )

 **(Guest Reviewer Chapter 1) Guest:** I know it might be a little bit before you see this reply but to answer your question…(sheepish grin)…when reposting the chapter when I fixed it I may have forgotten to unbold the words. Oops.

End Replies:

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

Marry Christmas everyone and have a great Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"The Demon can do it." Arbiter said confidently ducking down to reload. When he popped back up he shot at the Geth Colossus as he saw his brother in arms out right run through the foot Geth. 'He may be able to do anything he sets his mind to but he can be a fool at times.' He watched as the Colossus tried to throw the armored human off but like the stubborn mule that he was Chief held on and waited for his moment to strike. Arbiter used that time to shoot at the Geth trying to shoot the Demon down now that he was unable to hide to recharge his shields. Without Arbiter he would be a sitting duck out there. 'I've been around humans too much.'_

 _Now:_

Master Chief held on to the Geth Colossus with his vice like grip. It couldn't get him off. Liam had told him that they learned as a unit so they would learn how the others died and adapt. Not that it bothered John, all he had to do was wait for an opening while Garrus and Arbiter shot the other Geth around himself and Shepard.

Liam was watching him while he shot at the Geth around them as well. Chief was so calm as he held onto the Colossus. It was amazing how he did it and didn't fall off. He really needed to teach them how he did it. It seemed like a simple concept but the way the Chief did pulled it off made it seem like there was more to how he did what he did. The Commander could see that the Chief had finally found his opening and shoved the frag grenade into the wires of the consul of Colossus and jumped off quickly. When the human giant landed he ran to cover and pulled out his Missile Launcher. All four of them watched as the Geth around the Colossus went up and pulled out the grenade only have it go off near the Colossus and destroy part of it but all of the Geth troop that had pulled it out.

Liam smiled pleased, "Damn you really need to teach us how to do that without falling off."

The Commander continued to shoot as the Chief fired his Missile Launcher at the Colossus. "It won't be easy to teach with out the vehicles moving."

Shepard blinked confused, "Wait? Vehicles? I was talking about doing that to the Geth."

"The Chief is fully aware Commander however how the Chief learned was by jumping onto moving vehicles manned by the enemy. The Arbiter can do it too. It takes practice not to get hit and land correctly so as not to fall off." Cortana said into his ear piece.

They; Garrus, Chief and himself had come to an agreement that if Cortana was going to talk to them they were going to need a way to talk to her without Cerberus finding out about her, so they were all wearing a device made by the Chief to wear so they could hear her. Also she was able to take make their videos show her not there, even when they talked to her. Cortana would replace where she was talking with the Chief's voice. How she did that and didn't leave a trace to be found was beyond him and Garrus. Liam had dispelled the 'A.I. theory' to the Illusive Man by saying the pod that the Chief was in opened by a trigger when they got close to the door. The only reason they were not aware of it was because it didn't ping in their Omni-tools right away. Whether or not the Illusive Man believed him didn't bother the Commander at all because no matter what was asked he would not give Cortana's presence away to the man.

Liam looked at the Chief after he reloaded his gun and asked, "Are you serious that you actually jump on to moving vehicles?"

"Yes." The green eyed human shook his head in amazement and went back to shooting at the remaining Geth. 'That's pretty gutsy but really effective. I really want to learn how he does that.'

When they were done picking off the last of the Geth Master Chief went straight back to Arbiter who was setting down his empty Storm Rifle against him. He was heaving as sat there .The Sangheili turned toward the armored human taking the empty gun from him and placing it on his person. Afterwards Chief helped him stand as they heard their ride headed their way.

His leg felt numb as he set his feet the best he could. The tingling in his leg was very annoying. Arbiter mentally grunted as he happily accepted the help. He may be able to do the impossible at times but it felt good to be able to lean on someone he trusted. It had been a while since he could do that. The group of four watched as their ship landed, 'These ships designs are different.' The dark leathery skinned alien thought to himself.

When they got on the ship Arbiter was immediately put on a seat and the Chief grabbed a bag handing it to him. "It's food." The Demon indicated to each set of food in the bag as he explained, "Dexto and Human."

Arbiter looked at the bags, "What is Dexto?"

"It is food we aliens that can get sick eating human food or levo food. Chief wanted to make sure that we had you covered just in case you didn't react well to one." Garrus explained putting the backpack near the Sangheili, "I myself eat Dexto."

"Interesting." Arbiter answered putting the Dexto food to the side. He didn't want to risk eating the Dexto food if it was possible he would have a reaction. He would rather try it with a doctor around or not at all due him able to eat the meat humans could eat.

He opened the bag with the human food, this made the Turian chuckle, "So not a Dexto food eater."

"I have been eating human food for two years and after you said you could get sick just by eating human food then I could possibly get sick eating Dexto." The Elite replied pulling out the meat. The mandibles moved as he contemplated the taste. The Elite nodded, "I prefer the human food from my universe."

Suddenly, they heard a soft snort of laughter causing Liam, Arbiter, and Garrus to look at the Chief. When he realized he was being stared at the armored human looked at them from next to the Sangheili. He looked between to the three of them entirely confused, "What?"

"Chief…did you just laugh at something that was said?" The Turian asked with an amused smile.

This just served to confuse the large human more, "I don't understand."

Arbiter shook a little in his own laughter, "It was unintentional."

Garrus looked at the Sangheili still smiling and would have spoke up but Liam started talking making sure to keep Garrus from embarrassing the Chief before he was ready to feel that, "So Arbiter…" The Sangheili looked at him, "…how did you end up here?"

He knew it wouldn't hurt to tell the man. "I was looking for the Demon when I got a signal telling me there was an unknown energy signal. When I got to the site I quickly realized that it was the same place that the For…" The Elite looked at the Chief who nodded at him, "…Forward Unto Dawn had been split in half. Shortly after I realized that the energy activated and I was thrown from where I was to crashing on that planet."

Liam nodded, "Why do you call Chief, Demon? I thought only enemies called him that."

"I call him that because I mean it out of respect and I am used to it." The Halo alien thought to himself. He looked at the armored human again. 'It doesn't help that he was impossible to kill. Every video we have of him has shown this much.' The Sangheili thought to himself before saying, "As you seem to call him Chief I can assume he has never told you his real name either."

"No, and I don't blame him." Shepard answered leaning on his hands as Arbiter went back to eating the Human food the Spartan had given him, "If I had been what he had what he could have possibly been through I wouldn't give it out as easily either." Light green eyes looked closed as he yawned, "Tell me what did the energy look like, the one that got you from your universe to ours?"

"It looked like some kind of blue energy."

"Like one of these?" Garrus asked using his Omni-tool to show an image of a Mass Effect Relay.

"Exactly that without the device around it." Arbiter replied looking at the device, "What is that…device on your arm."

"It's an Omni-tool." Liam replied smiling, "Save your questions for later. When I get a chance, you and I can meet in the meeting room or in Dr. Chakwas office and I will answer them all there."

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?" Arbiter asked with a tilt of his head. While he didn't want to answer anymore he knew there at least had to be a million questions going through the green eyed humans head.

"One but when I come up with something more I will find you. My one question is where do you want to stay when you are free from the medical ward? We have many places that are free the Starboard Observation room, the Port Cargo area, or if you are like the Chief we have another Cargo Bay area." Liam asked putting his hands in his lap.

"Well if the Demon is okay with it I would prefer that I stay with him. It would put my mind at ease to see him and know his is there." The Elite requested looking at the Spartan. 'Especially after trying to find him for two years.'

"I don't mind."

Thel smiled at the Spartan, 'It would make him feel better too. He's trying to find something similar to have near him.' He held back a frown trying to make it onto his face, 'He's hiding something from them, I just know it.' He had not been with the Demon as long as some of the humans that knew him but he had better observations skills than they did and as such was able to see the subtle signs that most could not.


	21. Sibling Relationship

Chapter Twenty-One: Sibling Relationship 

Hello my readers. Here is the next chapter for you all. I wanted to thank my friend for looking this over for me and letting me know about Chief and Arbiter interactions with each other. It really helped. :p

Review Replies:

 **Scarease:** Send me a reply on what idea you got. And I will see what I can do.

 **headreviewer mk2:** They really are bursting through. But Arbiter can help him. If anyone can then it is him. : )

 **ArchAngel319:** I am glad you enjoyed the chapter.

 **Keith (Guest Review):** Oh he is. : )

 **Prmetheus-G747:** I am glad you are enjoying the chapter.

 **I hate me (guest review):** Lol funny. : )

End Replies:

Anywho I hope you all enjoy the chapter and have a happy new years.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Well if the Demon is okay with it I would prefer that I stay with him. It would put my mind at ease to see him and know his is there." The Elite requested looking at the Spartan. 'Especially after trying to find him for two years.'_

 _"I don't mind."_

 _Thel smiled at the Spartan, 'It would make him feel better too. He's trying to find something similar to have near him.' He held back a frown trying to make it onto his face, 'He's hiding something from them, I just know it.' He had not been with the Demon as long as some of the humans that knew him but he had better observations skills than they did and as such was able to see the subtle signs that most could not._

 _Now:_

The moment the four of them stepped into the Normandy they were greeted by Miranda. The woman blinked taking in the unfamiliar alien. The fact that he was at least taller than Chief and Garrus was a slight shock. She got her composure not milliseconds later, "Commander would you like me to lead the Master Chief's friend to the medical ward?"

Liam shook his head, "No need Miranda, I'll take them there. I need to talk to Arbiter anyways." He gestured for the two to follow him despite Chief knowing where to go. As they walked the Commander said, "Arbiter, would you like more food sent to the medical ward. I can imagine that you are still quite hungry with how long we are sure you were fighting." The Elite nodded limping his way next to this comrade brother to the medical ward. Liam nodded, "Fair enough, just know it might take a little bit for our Dr. Chakwas to help you completely."

"I don't expect your doctor to have knowledge of my species." The Sangheili replied keeping up with the armored human. Liam was not surprised to see that with the new alien. He reminded Liam of the Chief. They had both led people in their universe and knew better than to let an injury hold him down. Even if the Chief helped him onto to the ship Arbiter had insisted he could walk okay by himself when they had docked.

The red head smiled, 'He may not trust us yet but I can tell if I can get his trust, then I can tell he will be a great ally to have.'

mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh

Both Chief and Arbiter were in the medical ward as the Commander left after answering the Sangheili's questions. The Chief was going back for additional check ups to make sure that he was fine and nothing was amiss making him possibly sick. "So you really plan on not going back to our universe right away."

"Yes." The Chief replied, "I feel like I will be of more use here."

The alien looked at the human out of his armor. It was weird seeing what the armor hid from everyone's sight. Though it was the human's eyes that had really caught Thel's attention, "You are not how I expected you to look." Ice blue eyes looked into the alien's brown eyes, "It's hard to explain what I thought you would look like."

"It is good to have you back Arbiter. It will definitely help the Chief having you around. Not that Garrus and Tali don't help but it is better when close friends are near." Cortana explained smiling from her chip.

The Elite looked at the A.I., "Construct,…why are there less blue lines on you?"

The Chief looked away hurt as the female A.I. sighed, "I was hoping to have this conversation in the Cargo Bay. Can you wait till then, please?"

"Very well Construct I will wait." 'I was right.' Thel thought to himself watching as the Chief was still lying on his back but had his face turned away looking at the white curtain that separated the two of them from view from the window. 'They were hiding something and it isn't something good.' "Demon..." Arbiter didn't need to finish his sentence knowing full well that the Chief got what he was trying to say.

"It's not your fault, it caught you by surprise."

"Still I should not have said that in a public space." The leathery alien replied keeping his eyes on the Demon. What ever was going on with Cortana was affecting the large human really deeply. More than the armored human would like to admit.

"Hey Arbiter,…" The blue A.I. female said getting the tall aliens attention, "…Commander Shepard asked me about your fighting style. Maybe when you get better you and the Chief can spar."

Thel nodded, "I can agree to that. It has been a while since I fought you Demon." Both Chief and Cortana looked at him funny. This made the Sangheili chuckle, "I don't blame you for not remembering. I was not wearing this armor. We fought twice before teaming up. I was the one in charge of the covenant fleet that destroyed the planet I believe you called Reach. So I was the one that followed you to the first ring. The first time we fought, you were on one of my ships getting intel with several more of your other armored comrades if I am correct, I lost my weapon and you escaped. The second time was when you got onto my ship. While I was fighting you I slipped on a dead Sangheili's helmet and fell into an escape pod by accident. And like, as you humans say, an asshole you activated it."

Cortana was laughing lightly, "Oh, I remember you now. I thought it was funny when you fell into the escape pod. I told him to turn it on for shits and giggles."

The Elite glared lightly at the A.I., "The only reason I lost those fights is because I had a lack of understanding of how determined you and your group were. We are both matched in wit and strength. And on more than one occasion I have caught my fellow Sangheili talking about my death defying moments. So don't think I will be easy to spar." The blue data woman continued to giggle, "Any way when I was found I got tried for 'letting you destroy the ring'."

"But it all worked in your favor." The data based woman said with a smile.

Arbiter shook his head both amused and annoyed at her, "You are an infuriating woman and what makes it worse it you are not even flesh and blood yet you sound so…human."

She gave a big cheesy smile then they both looked at Chief as he stared at the Elite, "Trying to figure out where you saw him the first time big man?" Ice blue eyes looked at her making her all the more amused, "He was the red plated Elite that you had no time to fight because you were being timed. If you remember correctly you were both matching hit for hit. He was the only one you called…" She paused to let him continue the thought.

It took him a few milliseconds to put it together but when he did he finished with, "…a truly worthy opponent."

"Bingo."

The large human nodded now recalling the events, "You were a pain to fight."

Arbiter smiled, "As were you. I've never had that kind of challenge in my life when it came to single sparing combat. Yet at the same time it was thrilling." Brown eyes looked at the ceiling, "After you none of the other Sangheili seemed to compare. Even after being called a heretic I still wished to fight you." He glanced at the blue eyed human, "Did you really call me a worthy opponent?"

The Demon seemed a bit embarrassed about that and decided not to answer. However Cortana giggled, "He sure did, said he hadn't enjoyed a good fight like that since the rest of his comrades were around him."

Arbiter nodded in understanding, "It's rather boring when your competition is weaker than you. Especially in a one on one combat." The blue skinned alien prodded the human to make sure he was listening even if he didn't decide to look at him, "Me and you will spar. It would do us some good to fight against each other every once in a while."

"You should spar with Garrus too." Chief said surprising the alien, "He can inform you about a different way to fight."

"The way he acted with you. Are you two on friendly terms?"

Master Chief nodded, "Yes, he, Tali, and Commander Shepard are the ones I am closest to. Garrus and Shepard were part of the group of three that got me off the Forward Unto Dawn."

"And since then has done everything his in power to make sure that the Chief was happy were he was. Tali helped just by being supportive. It helps that they are both on Engineering." Cortana added, winking at Arbiter to where the Chief couldn't see her.

"Don't think I don't know what you did." The human chastised causing the A.I. to laugh.

Arbiter snorted as he watched the two. Everyone else always made the two's relationship complicated when explaining it but he saw what it really was. It was a sibling like relationship. They looked out for each other and protected each other. Their love for each other made it where no matter what they would always find a way to help each other out. 'It is truly something to behold. They know each other better than they know themselves.' Something about their relationship made the Arbiter happy and feel the love they felt for each other like the true siblings they were.


	22. Can I Ask You A Question

Chapter Twenty-Two: Can I Ask You A Question

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I apologize for taking a while to get this out however life happened. The last couple of weeks were packed with things to get done and all of that craziness that came with it. Grant it not all the crazy things were bad just took a lot of time and caused a lot of exhaustion.

Review Replies:

 **ArchAngel319:** I am glad you liked the chapter. I had fun writing the banter.

 **holyscythe:** I have many chapter made for this story. So don't worry many chapters are on their way. I am glad you are enjoying the story.

 **Sigma0327:** I am glad you are enjoying the story. …(Thinking face as I touch my chin) Hm, I might just have him do that. That would be interesting to see a spar between Chief and Wrex. I promise longer chapters are coming. The one I am putting up right now are premade chapters and I'm scared that if I add too much I could ruin the following chapters. I add as much as I can every time I edit.

 **(Guest Reviewer) Keith:** That is a wonderful idea.

 **Prometheus-G747 (Chapter 21 and 18):** Those are interesting ideas for sure. I'll see if I can add them but I make no promises. (With the Forerunners and Cortana being a Cortana being an info broker.) I'll defiantly try to use Cortana to hack the systems but can't promise that it will be a lot you will find out in this chapter why. I do have plans for the Halo people to learn about the ME universe. I promise you that. ; )

 **artilyon-rand:** Thank you for taking the time to review. I'll take what you have said into consideration.

End Replies:

Before we get to the story I want to thank a guest reviewer, Keith, for one of the ideas in the chapter.

I hope you all enjoy and have a great Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Arbiter snorted as he watched the two. Everyone else always made the two's relationship complicated when explaining it but he saw what it really was. It was a sibling like relationship. They looked out for each other and protected each other. Their love for each other made it where no matter what they would always find a way to help each other out. 'It is truly something to behold. They know each other better than they know themselves.' Something about their relationship made the Arbiter happy and feel the love they felt for each other like the true siblings they were._

 _Now:_

Arbiter and Chief were in the Cargo Bay a couple of days later cleaning their weapons. The Sangheili had been released early as he really didn't have any lasting problems. All he needed was some numbing cream and to stay long enough so that tha the good doctor could learn how to take care of him. Chief had been let free because he was done being observed for his medical reason. Arbiter had been told about what the large human was doing and he had instantly approved after learning just enough to understand why he needed it. It was a pity to him that Spartans had been hindered in that area just to help them fight better. Such a stupid thing to do, now the Chief had to learn how to control his urges when he should have learned when he was a teenager. Liam walked in and smiled at the two of them happily sitting in piece and quiet, "Hey, you two got some time?"

The Chief nodded and indicated to the spot next to him and continued to clean the weapon in his lap. Arbiter looked the Commander, "What is it you wanted to know?"

Liam smiled at the Sangheili, "Well actually I wanted to get to know you two a bit more. Since I am just getting to know you Arbiter, is it okay if I ask you generic questions?"

The leathery alien looked at the Chief and Cortana, "You two were not kidding when you said he tried to get to know his crew members."

"I wouldn't say you are a crew member, at least not yet." The alien looked at the smaller human as the A.I. giggled, "I would call Chief a crew member because he has made a commitment to this mission on his own choice but for you I want you to make your own choice if you want to be with us in the long run of this mission."

Arbiter stared at him, "I am not leaving without the Demon."

"Yes, but your commitment is to the Chief. I have no problem with you on my ship to stay with him but if you are not committed to the cause I can't take you on any missions. I need to know you will give it your all for the mission as well." Liam said, his light green eyes smiling, "It isn't something against you I promise."

The Sangheili nodded in understanding, "Very well then human how long do you think this mission could go on?"

"I…don't know." The red haired human sighed, "We are trying right now to take care of the Collectors and then we can tackle the Reaper problem. The Reaper's are using the Collectors to do their bidding just as when I first started they were using the Geth and a Turian named Saren."

"I see." The brown eyed alien thought about it while looking at Chief, "Demon do you plan on helping till the end?"

"Yes. I will not let these people fall into the Reaper's hands."

Arbiter nodded, "Okay, I will help as well then. I go where the Demon goes. Maybe if we find a way home we could get our people to help."

Liam nodded in agreement, "Yes, I like the sound of that. You think they would be willing to help?"

"They will once these Reapers find out about the Demon and I. If we can make our way here then they can most definitely make their way to our home. The Sangheili and humans there will not let that happen." The Sangheili replied picking up a new gun to clean.

"Fair enough." Liam replied, "Speaking of going home. I was thinking of the ways to send you home. Our ships have been going through these Mass Relays for a long time I bet we could rig something up if I got you supplies to help your people get through without ship damage."

Cortana nodded, "Yes, that would be most helpful. I almost couldn't hold the Forward Unto Dawn together when the Chief and I went through. While the hull could hold better than your ships it is missing something to make it through completely unscathed."

"So Arbiter can I ask you a generic question?"

"Go ahead hu…Shepard." The Sangheili replied checking the gun he as cleaning.

"My question is this what differences have you found between your universe and mine?" Liam smiled as the alien in a sense raised an eyebrow at him.

Arbiter answered a few minuets later, "I would have to say your food. While it isn't the food I am used to it isn't bad. Even your human food is different than the food I was eating on my search for the Demon."

"You seem to like the human food."

"Yes, you humans have interesting ways to season you meats." The alien replied truthfully. "The fact the humans here do it differently helps make your dimension all the more different."

Shepard turned toward the Chief, "I am curious how you have been feeling. I know having these hormones free is probably doing hell on your emotions right now."

"I am okay. I have better control than most so I shouldn't have too many problems. I am finding my anger to harder to hold back." The Chief responded putting his cloth down.

Liam nodded, "Yes, that one is one of the trickier emotions to deal with." Then he smiled at the Chief and Arbiter, "Is there anything you two wanted to ask me?"

"Yes, sir." The human responded picking the guns he had cleaned and put them in sorted piles of guns. They were trying to organize the guns so they didn't have to look through too many to find the ones they were looking for.

"The Demon and I have been talking and gathering information. It seems that several of your resources can be used to make the bullets for our guns as well as batteries that can be adapted to the other guns. Is it at all possible to get some of those resources so we can continue to use the guns that we have?" Arbiter asked finishing the question of the large human.

Liam blinked, "Yes, of course. Just let me know and I will happily get them if I have too."

"Thank you." The Chief said sitting down next to the Commander again.

"No need to thank me. If you need resources just let me know." Liam sat up, "Before I go I need to ask you two one more question." Both the Chief and Arbiter looked at him, "I have been going around the ship asking for upgrades that I could do to the ship. I want as many people to survive when we take on the Collectors and as well as the Reapers afterwards. I was wondering if you two had any ideas to help make our mission easier and help us come out of this alive."

Chief turned to look to the side as he thought about it while Arbiter clicked his mandibles. 'It's risky to trust these people with our technology however I need to think about this in the long run. What if by the time I do trust them there isn't time to add it?' The alien looked at the human waiting patiently for them to answer. 'He really does want people to survive. I can't blame him after hearing what is going on with the human colonies. I should do this now before there isn't time. Besides it isn't what I have to offer is not seen. Cortana did say she's read about a few people that can do it too.' He spoke up, "I have one idea but it will require a delicate touch to make it work for your ship."

"I am willing to get the resources to help. What do you got?" He watched the Sangheili stand up and suddenly disappear from his sight, "Camouflage."

"Yes." The Arbiter came back into view and sat across from the Commander and Master Chief, "But that will mean I need to know more about the ship to adapt what my people use and how to apply it to this ship."

"You have the ability to make it work for the Normandy?"

Arbiter nodded to the Commander's question, "I'm willing to try."

"I have to ask why? I do appreciate it but why give us that particular upgrade?"

Arbiter in a sense raised he eyebrow, "You said you wanted your people to survive this upcoming encounter. It is hard to hit what you can't see. The biggest thing you have to keep in mind is that if the ship moves too fast we can be seen."

"Okay, problem. What if they can scan us?"

That made the alien laugh lightly, "You won't have to worry about that. Unless you have technology that will be able to understand what it is scanning it won't find us. I can make it to where if it is activated you will be untraceable. We have used this tactic on the humans before they got a hold of a beacon that allows them to find us while cloaked."

"I will let you have full access. Just let E.D.I. know what you need and she can get it for you once you get your Omni-tool from Tali." The Elite nodded in appreciation to his trust, "Just so you know she will be bring two. One for when you are in your armor and the other when you are not. Garrus and Tali have already volunteered to take you and Chief shopping to get more clothing."

"That is appreciated." The Chief said, "The shielding on the crews armor. I can make a version of the one I have. It won't be the same but it will be better than what you have now."

"Yes, that will be very useful in a fight. I will let the crew I take out know that you plan on doing that so that when you ask to see their armor they won't be surprised." The light green eyed human said looking into the ice blue eyes of the Chief. Sheppard paused when Arbiter and Chief glanced at each other, "Is there something else?"

The two continued to look at each other then looked at the green eyed man as the Sangheili responded, "There is one other thing that could be of great help. As you know we don't use Mass Relays correct." Liam nodded in reply letting the alien finish his thought process. "It's risky as you have not used it before but the way we travel is by what the humans call slip-space."

Shepard blinked, "From your expression and you mentioning them this is kind of like traveling with Mass Relays I take."

Chief nodded, "It is hyper-compressed multidimensional jump. Much like your Mass Relays but more versatile."

Liam whistled, "That's…amazing." He looked at the two of them with his green eyes, "Would you be able to do it?"

"With help from Cortana, yes." Arbiter replied, "However the Chief and I agree it would be better to use the version that we as the Covenant used. It more refined to what the humans used."

"It sounds really helpful if I'm being honest with you." Liam bit his lip, "Cortana can you send me some information on Slip-Space before I make my decision."

"Of course, I will also send stats on how well the Normandy would work with Slip-Space as well." The A.I. replied.

The Commander stood up, "I should go and check on the others. Tali should be here soon with your Omni-tools Arbiter." The alien nodded and Shepard walked out of the Cargo area.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Mordin looked over at the A.I. consul as Cortana popped up, "Ah Cortana, so good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too. How have you been?"

"Much work is getting done. Analysis's are being run, ideas being researched, a stabilizer for Chief is in creation."

"A stabilizer? What for?" The A.I. asked curiously.

"Just in case. While the tests showed that he would not be affected health wise his emotions will go out of control. There needs to be a way to stabilize them so that he can get used to them without it attacking him all at once."

"I see." Cortana touched her chin, "You think they will get that out of hand?"

"Highly possible, however this will help him stabilize them till he gets use to them. Once he is used to them and can control them he will need to take them no longer." Mordin replied, "However it is still in testing phase. It needs to be just right or it could make things worse. Much harder to make this than the original pill I gave him. Emotions are too unpredictable."

"How long have you been making this?" Cortana asked, she didn't dive into the ships systems too much. She feared that if she went rampant while in there it could cause a problem so she really didn't want to mess anything in the ship up.

"Ever since I started the cure for Chief. I knew it had to have a stabilizer to help. Creating a cure to help him child's play but a man of his position and how long I hypothesize he's been in that position with his sex drive down...no telling what that can do to the emotions."

"Do you need help?"

"No, it is almost done. It just needs a few more tests to know for sure it is safe for him to keep on him." Mordin replied, he quieted for a moment then spoke, "To what do I owe your visit?"

"Just wanted to see how and what you were doing. Currently there is nothing that needs to be sorted on Chief's Omni-tool and my boys are cleaning the guns."

"Yes, those guns are quite the marvel. A plasma based weapon…quite ingenious. Useful. We are more than lucky to have you on our side." Cortana beamed hearing him say that.


	23. Battery Issues

Chapter Twenty-Three: Battery Issues

Here is the next chapter for you all.

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 **headreviewer mk2:** They totally would XD

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 **(Guest Reviewer) Keith:** The Reapers have no idea what is headed their way. : )

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I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Do you need help?"_

 _"No, it is almost done. It just needs a few more test to know for sure it is safe for him to keep on him." Mordin replied, he quieted for a moment then spoke, "To what do I owe your visit?"_

 _"Just wanted to see how and what you were doing. Currently there is nothing that needs to be sorted on Chief's Omni-tool and my boys are cleaning the guns."_

 _"Yes, those guns are quite the marvel. A plasma based weapon…quite ingenious. Useful. We are more than lucky to have you on our side." Cortana beamed hearing him say that._

 _Now:_

Arbiter looked at the door as a new alien walked in. He couldn't see what she looked like since she wore an outfit that covered her entire body. "You must be Tali."

Master Chief looked over at her and nodded in her direction before going back to cleaning the guns. The alien nodded, "I am. You must be Arbiter. I heard you are from Chief's universe." She walked forward and sat next to the Sangheili. The leathery alien watched as she put one of the devices down and turned to face him with the other one, "Okay, so I have one for when you have your armor on and one for when you are out of armor. However to put this on I will need to ask questions about you armor so I can adjust it to work with it."

"I will answer to the best of my knowledge. This armor I wear is a relic that has been passed down from generation to generation." Arbiter answered looking at the screen that only showed the aliens glowing eyes.

"I will take what I can get."

While Tali started putting on the device, no Omni-tool Arbiter corrected himself he asked, "What kind of alien are you?"

"I'm a Quarian, we are a primarily a nomadic people though some of us are trying to fix that." Tali answered looking at him, "Are you right handed or left handed?"

"Right."

"Damn I sitting on the wrong side." Getting up she sat herself between both Chief and Arbiter.

Master Chief moved to give her room though his eyes lingered from behind his helmet for a few milliseconds before forcing himself to look away. That movement did not escape Arbiter's notice, 'Strange, I've never seen the Demon act like that. He is reminding me of a crushing fool who doesn't know what to do.' The Sangheili looked at the human's hands as they cleaned to gun. They seemed to move almost nervously as he cleaned the gun, 'Does he like Tali?' Then it suddenly hit the Sangheili and thought back to when they were in the infirmary the Demon displaying emotions he had never see him convey and now Tali it was obvious to the Sangheili that the human likely had a crush and was probably mistaking it for feeling uneasy. The Arbiter couldn't help it he gave a snort of laughter getting the Demon's attention. The human was raising an eyebrow clearly confused by his strange behavior. "Don't worry about it Demon. Just a funny thought is all."

Tali looked up, "Alright, it is on. Now if you wouldn't mind taking off the arm piece so I can attach this to your arm." The Sangheili was surprised as she did not need to ask the questions that she said would. He wasn't going to complain though.

"Certainly." Arbiter replied taking off the armor, "You did that rather quick."

"Well, I had to apply the Chief's armor as well." The Quarian replied, there was a nervous touch to her voice.

Seeing this made the Sangheili smile in his head. Where as with the Demon it was misunderstanding of his emotions on his part with Tali it was clear. She liked the human and that made Arbiter curious as to how this was caused. As he held out his arm to her he continued to think as the Quarian put on the Omni-tool, 'I am more than ready to watch this play out. Maybe I can help out by nudging the Demon in the right direction to understanding what he is feeling.' His mind already coming up with ways to help his comrade. 'Even if they don't end up together this could be a good way for him to understand his emotions better.'

The door opened and Garrus walked in, "Hey Chief, I need help with the Main Battery again. It's that same spot. I think something is stuck."

Master Chief got off the bench that Arbiter and Tali were sitting on and sat next to the Turian taking, what Arbiter had been told, a data pad. The human move the image around and moved pieces, "There."

Garrus groaned, "Damn it, we can't let that stay in for too long. If you want, you can change at the Main Battery. No need to kick Tali out." The Chief nodded and got his clothes following the Turian out. Garrus waved at him, "Sorry to take the Chief."

"It sounds important I have no problem." Arbiter said then looked at Tali as she seemed to be stuck, "Something wrong?"

"No, not really. I just need you to hold this piece while I make sure that this Omni-tool doesn't move. I don't know why it won't stay still it went on just fine when I put this on the Chief's arm." The Quarian answered sounding rather irritated. She cursed in whatever language she spoke, "Stupid Omni-tool. Stay still!"

Arbiter chuckled and helped hold the device still. He didn't know why but he had no problem when it came to Tali. Maybe it was because he knew she liked the Demon or maybe it was because she didn't come off as all that aggressive. "Is that helping?"

"Yes, thank you." The suit wearing alien sighed with relief as finished with the device. She shook her head as she leaned back against the wall, "Sorry that took so long. I thought with your leathery skin it would stay put but apparently I was wrong."

"It's okay." The Sangheili stood up with the Quarian. As they both walked out a woman was walking out of the elevator. Curious Arbiter watched her as she went in a door and down some stairs, "Who was that?"

"That's Jack. She was recently recruited on the mission before getting you." Tali answered, "She doesn't trust us too much but I have no doubt that Shepard will win her over. He is charismatic that way." The Quarian looked at him, "Have you eaten since coming down here?"

"No, I was actually about to go up and eat."

"How about you join the table Garrus, Chief and I sit at. We usually head there about this time but Garrus and Chief will be a little late due to whatever they are fixing." Tali offered as they walked into the elevator together.

"I would have sat with the Demon anyway." Arbiter answered leaning against the wall as the elevator went up.


	24. Humans Are Interesting

Chapter Twenty-Four: Humans Are Interesting

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I am so sorry this is getting out _way late_. I was in the middle of moving, then moving and where I moved required a handful of plane rides to get to. Suffice to say that my sleep schedule was really messed up. I will try my best to get back into the game as it has bothered me with how long it has taken me to get back to it. I can only imagine how you all felt with the wait.

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 **TheRealMasonMac:** I hope you have a good day. : )

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I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _The Quarian looked at him, "Have you eaten since coming down here?"_

 _"No, I was actually about to go up and eat."_

 _"How about you join the table Garrus, Chief and I sit at. We usually head there about this time but Garrus and Chief will be a little late due to whatever they are fixing." Tali offered as they walked into the elevator together._

 _"I would like that. I would have sat with the Demon anyway." Arbiter answered leaning against the wall as the elevator went up._

 _Now:_

Both Master Chief and Garrus sat down at their lunch table with the Turian giving a sigh, "Geez you would think I don't take care to this Main Battery."

The human gave a snort of amusement, not that he noticed. "You do fine; technology will do what it does."

The Turian nodded, "Yeah." Then he looked at Tali and Arbiter looking at them, "Thanks for waiting at the table for us. Sorry, it took us so long."

"Was it that hard to get out?" Arbiter asked curiously as Tali and Master Chief left to get food, well Tali went to get Garrus food as her and Arbiter had already eaten.

"Yeah, it was easy to reach but I had to make sure I didn't hurt Chief in the meantime. So he had to have on specific gloves and I had to make the battery didn't go ape shit crazy on him when he put his hand in to get the shrapnel out." Garrus explained looking over at Tali and Chief. With a small chuckle and shook his head but keeping his thoughts to himself.

Arbiter took note of what the Turian was possibly thinking about, 'He sees it too.'

The Turian looked over and tried to start a conversation with the quiet alien after taking note that the Sangheili had a clarifying look on his face. "I saw it in Tali first but after Chief got the treatment from Mordin it got easier to notice with him."

"Who is this Mordin you mentioned?"

"He's our scientist, a Salarian." The plated alien showed the Halo Universe one what he looked like on his Omni-tool, "This is Mordin. He's a genius. He made it to where the Chief wouldn't be hurt in the process or lose any of his gifts that he got from his people did to him."

"Did to him?"

Arbiter thought about that statement while Garrus face palmed, 'Damn it, me and my big mouth.'

"I see now, that is why he and his kind of people were so different from the other humans." The Sangheili tapped the table with his finger, 'I guess we really didn't put much thought in it.'

Garrus looked at the Chief sitting next to the Sangheili, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's fine. What is done is done." The human said then taking a bite out of his burger.

Tali put food in front of the Turian, "So, you two seem to be getting along."

"If you think so." Arbiter said leaning on the table to look at the Chief, "Tell me, did they do bad things to you?"

"It depends on your version of bad." The human replied after swallowing. He gave his partner in crime a short looked before continuing to eat.

"I will wait then." He tuned his head to look at the far side of the room, his brown eyes on Jack as she ate her food. She looked up and glared at him before going back to her food, "Does she have any friends on this ship?"

"Jack?" Arbiter nodded and Tali shook her head, "No, she separates herself. I don't blame her. I heard from Chief that she was once part of Cerberus's experiments."

The leathery skinned alien looked at the Quarian, "Interesting."

Garrus gave a teasing smile, "Why thinking about trying to get to know her?"

"Maybe." Arbiter replied, "I may not trust Alien's so much but I find humans interesting. Your humans are no different."

Garrus nodded, "Fair enough I can see your interest in humans they are interesting in their own way." Tali nodded in agreement to the Turians statement.

Chief raised an eyebrow at Arbiter in an unasked question. Even with his emotions now free the Sangheili was still able to read the Demon like the back of his hand, "Yes, I have always found your kind interesting." The human seemed to give him another look so he replied with, "Just because I was fighting you all doesn't mean I am ignorant as to not need to know things about you species. It is good to know your enemy. For example your female humans are a pain in the ass to fight when on their time of the month, as you humans say." The Chief blinked as if trying to hold back an almost inescapable reaction. While the new Sangheili didn't show it outside, inside he was slightly amused by the Demon. He was used to humans showing a lot of emotions to see one struggling with them was a bit entreating.

The human went back to eating his burger as Tali and Garrus smiled at the two of them, "You two really do know each other well." The Turian observed, "So it is like Chief told me about, you really can read each other."

"I would be a bad partner if I could not read someone who wears armor every time I see him." Arbiter replied looking at the human as he once again held in his reaction, "Demon, you act like emotions are a disease."

That comment made Garrus burst out laughing while Tali giggled. The Chief looked at Arbiter and seemed to try and say something but was unable to. Garrus spoke up, "Well to be fair Arbiter he did only get the treatment a week ago. So that is to be expected."

Master Chief looked between Garrus and Arbiter seemingly bewildered, "Is there something wrong with me not showing my emotions?"

Arbiter gave his version of a smirk, "Well yes, you make yourself look more like a…machine in a human body."

Shepard walked over and sat at their table smiling when he saw both Chief and Arbiter go into a staring contest of silent conversation. Shaking his head he asked, "Okay, what spurred this?"

"A conversation about Chief's emotions." Tali replied with a giggle.

Garrus added, "Arbiter here said Chief treats his emotions like a disease."

Liam chuckled, "He just needs time to get used to them is all." His green eyes looked at the two who had yet to stop staring at each other, "Arbiter." The Sangheili looked at him, "I am going to be going on a small outing to the Omega, would you like to accompany the Chief and I so I could see you two in action even if it is not in a fight?"

The alien nodded, "I wouldn't mind at all. I am interested to see what other aliens are out there in this universe."

"We will be there soon, I suggest you take one of our weapons and one of your own. I will leave what you take with you your choice." The red head replied then taking a bite out of his salad.

The Chief looked at Liam, "I was never told this?"

"Aria heard about you and is interested in seeing you in person. I figured she would cause no harm to you. Even if she did I'm sure we will get out of there no problem." The shorter human replied.

"Is there another reason you need both of us?" The Sangheili asked watching as Demon picked up his apple and took a bite.

"Aria had a message sent to me about needing some help with something. I am going to find out what that is and see how I can be of some assistance." Shepard answered looking at the seven inch ten feet alien in the eye.

The Sangheili nodded in understanding and looked back at the Chief, "Demon, you may need to show me their weapons since we have been focusing on ours." The Chief nodded and continued to eat his apple.


	25. I'd Break It

Chapter Twenty-Five: I'd Break It

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

 **ArchAngel319:** You're welcome.

 **headreviewer mk2:** Lol he's going to cause suspicion despite what he brings due to no one ever seeing an alien like him before.

 **Keith (Guest Reviewer):** : ) Well we'll have to see then won't we?

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 **"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker**

 **(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off**

 **(** **blank** **) Cortana talking in suit**

 **"blank"** **Cortana talking outside suit**

 ** _"blank"_** **Rampancy**

 **{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.**

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"Is there another reason you need both of us?" The Sangheili asked watching as Demon picked up his apple and took a bite._

 _"Aria had a message sent to me about needing some help with something. I am going to find out what that is and see how I can be of some assistance." Shepard answered looking at the eight foot alien in the eye._

 _The Sangheili nodded in understanding and looked back at the Chief, "Demon, you may need to show me their weapons since we have been focusing on ours." The Chief nodded and continued to eat his apple._

 _Now:_

As Arbiter and Chief made their way back to the elevator to get to the Cargo Bay the door opened to show Miranda walking out. She seemed to look at the Sangheili with curious eyes. She looked like she wanted nothing to do but ask questions upon seeing him. The Alien gave a polite nod before walking onto the elevator with the human man. The woman walked off just as the door closed allowing the two of them to be alone for the most part. "Who was that?"

"Miranda Lawson, she's the reason I put the device on the outside of the door."

"I see. So she's the woman that works for this Illusive Man you were telling me about." Arbiter said tapping his arm in thought. Master Chief didn't respond as it was not needed. The Sangheili didn't know how he felt about the woman but he could tell he would have to be careful around her.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Miranda sat on her chair her mind going over the new alien. The Illusive Man was really interested in him. His species was not something they had ever seen. However the way that he had given her a polite nod told her she would not be able to get anything out of him. 'He will be just as hard to crack as the Chief. But I can defiantly see a lot a military training from the way he carries himself. Thinking of Chief…' She took a couple of calming breaths before she continued her thought process, '…that device he put on the outside of the room is impossible to crack without knowing anything about his universe. And he's not even close to allowing me to that kind of information. If I try I will only end up breaking it.' She pinched the bridge of her nose, "This is going to be a nightmare."

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Arbiter and Chief walked in entry hallway of Omega behind Shepard. At the end of the hall they saw a man talking to an alien neither of the two behind Shepard had seen with their own eyes. "Okay." Liam said to himself as he walked forward to hear what was going on.

Once they were close enough the guy kicked the Batarian that he was talking to making the alien slide to the ground. Chief and Arbiter watched without any reaction as they had both seen this kind of behavior before many times. The Batarian spoke to Liam, "Please, you got to help me."

"No one said you could talk jackass." The human man said.

Arbiter grunted out in his language, " _That alien is lucky that he's not dealing with me. I can be a real jackass._ " He shook his head as he thought to himself, 'Damn I've been around the humans too much.'

Liam ignored the Sangheili thinking to himself and said, "Are you Zaeed Massani?"

The man turned around showing that his right eye blind, "Yeah, that's me. You must be Commander Shepard. I hear we have a galaxy to save."

"I assume you've been briefed?" The red haired human said looking the man in the eye.

"I've done my homework." Zaeed replied.

This made John narrow his eyes and said in his helmet where only Cortana could hear, "This man makes me on edge." His freed emotions making it a little hard to keep it from showing but he managed not to show what he was feeling other than glaring. Arbiter able to pick up on what Chief was feeling and understood why he felt the way he did about Zaeed. He did not like this kind of man either he reminded him too much of the Jackals.

"Cerberus sent me everything I needed to know." Zaeed looked at Chief and Arbiter as if to study them then looked back at Liam.

"My contacts told me I was picking up one man not two." The green eyed human said as conversationally as he could.

"A Batarian delinquent, pissed off someone rich enough to higher me to go after him. And for me bring him in alive rates even." The Mercenary replied.

(Oh, defiantly a mercenary.) Cortana said causing Arbiter to nod his head in agreement. The Sangheili had be updated on what was happening to her so she was free to be in his ear piece as long as she wanted but was careful when it came to Liam. " _May he burn in hell._ "

Arbiter raised an eyebrow and looked at the Demon discreetly. The armored human just shook his head as if to say, 'Yes, that is what we were talking.'

"Please, I didn't do it." The Batarian pleaded with the mercenary.

Zaeed kicked the downed alien in the face saying, "I said shut it." Then the man turned and looked at Shepard, "Tried to lead me on a chase all over the systems, he should have know better. These people always run to Omega."

"What is your relationship to Cerberus?" Liam asked changing the subject.

The man walked forward to stand close to Shepard. This made Chief go stiff and put his right hand on his Katana Shotgun while Arbiter stood up tall eyeing the man dangerously, "Easy, Cerberus is paying a lot of money for me to help you on your mission." He looked at Chief, "What's with your friend?"

"Back down Chief. It's okay, he won't hurt me not even if he wanted to." Liam said looking over his shoulder.

"No offence Commander but I don't trust him so I will not back down till he does." Master Chief responded his helmet focusing on the mercenary standing too close to his Commander.

Liam shook his head, "Perhaps you could back up just a bit. It will help more than you think."

Zaeed gave a nod and took a couple of steps back, "Interesting company you are keeping."

"Not many mercs take a suicide mission for the pay." The red haired human said changing the subject as Chief put his hand by his side but didn't unstiffen much like Arbiter didn't unharden his eyes.

"Most mercs don't get an offer like the one Cerberus sent me." Zaeed answered peeking over at the alien next to the armored man. 'The alien barely moved during that exchange almost as if he knew his friend was all that was going to be needed.' He could see that the unknown alien looked quite dangerous, his eyes daring him to move like that again. The way he stood showed he looked just as ready to attack if he had been needed. It didn't help that Zaeed had no clue what alien he was in the first place. And that alien was defiantly taller than him. Though lean he looked like he packed quiet a punch. After his observation he turned away, "This mission doesn't sound like good business, but your Illusive Man can move a lot of credits." Zaeed looked back at Liam.

Arbiter glanced at the Chief, 'The Demon needs to calm down. We could kill this man in our sleep.' While he himself was not fond of mercenaries he was not just going show that it bothered him just that, that man did not want to mess with him.

"Good to have you Zaeed, we have a lot to do." Liam shook hands with the mercenary.

"That's what they tell me." The mercenary grabbed his gun and pointed it at the Batarian, "I assume the Illusive Man told you about our arrangement."

Shepard shook his head, "No, I guess he decided to leave that information out of the Dossier."

"Good thing I asked." The half blind man replied and walked forward but not enough to make the Chief to reach for his gun again, "I picked up a mission a little while back just before I signed on with Cerberus. I thought you might be interested. Ever heard the name Vido Santiago?" Liam shook his head, "He's the head of the Blue Sun's."

'Blue Suns?' Arbiter asked with his eyes to the Spartan.

Cortana piped into his head set, (As far as we are concerned a crime group.)

"Ah." The Sangheili replied listening back to the conversation.

"Runs the whole organization. Seems he recently captured a L felt refinery on Zorya and he is using their workers for slave labor. The company wants it dealt with.

"I'll make sure we get that done." Liam replied much to Chief's relief.

"Good, get it out of the way so we can concentrate on being big cut hero's." Zaeed said, the next thing they knew was the Batarian got up and started to run only he didn't get very far as he was shot in the leg. "I better turn this thing in before it starts to think. I'll be locked and loaded the next time you're ready to get some killing done."

"Tell me Chief, what was that?" Liam asked as they watched Zaeed walk off with the injured Batarian.

"I don't trust him Commander."

"In what way?"

Arbiter looked at the Chief as he answered, "My gut tells me so."

"Do you think I would be hurt by him?"

"No. I just don't trust him." Master Chief responded clenching his fist.

"On this mission he needs to have done, do you want to tag along? I can bring someone else."

"No, bring me along. I need to save those people." The Spartan responded looking at his Commander in the eye.

"Fair enough, I just needed to know if your gut was telling you if I should trust him." 'He didn't even apologize for his reaction. He feels not guilt in his feelings.' Liam responded walking away, "This way, Aria will be in the club."


	26. Involuntary

Chapter Twenty-Six: Involuntary 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

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 **Harlequin-ThePsycopathicHero:** Yes he is.

 **headreviewer mk2:** That is true.

 **Scarease:** : )

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I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"On this mission he needs to have done, do you want to tag along? I can bring someone else."_

 _"No, bring me along. I need to save those people." The Spartan responded looking at his Commander in the eye._

 _"Fair enough, I just needed to know if your gut was telling you if I should trust him." 'He didn't even apologize for his reaction. He feels not guilt in his feelings.' Liam responded walking away, "This way, Aria will be in the club."_

 _Now:_

Arbiter looked around at the other aliens in the club as he followed behind Liam Shepard. The others in the club were looking at him as well but that didn't bother him, in fact he expected it since he was the only Sangheili in the whole this universe. When they got to a Turian guarding some stairs they heard the plated alien say, "Aria has a job she needs doing. You up for some work?"

"That's the reason I'm here." Liam replied nodding his head.

"Hm, it seems you brought the person she was interested in. Anyway Aria gotten word that some Blood Pack mercs plan to kill an old acquaintance of hers. A Krogan named Patriarch."

Arbiter shook his head grunting out in his language, "What is with the mercenaries in the place?"

"She'd like you to keep that from happening."

"What's the Blood Packs problem with Patriarch?" The Commander asked.

"If you met Patriarch you would know. He can't keep his damned mouth shut. Some people don't appreciate his stories. Especially when it dips into nonfiction." The Turian replied sounding rather annoyed.

Master Chief gave an involuntary snort of amusement. However, Liam quickly spoke when the alien looked at the armored human, "So what's Aria interest in protecting him?"

Despite wanting an explanation as to why the man seemed amused the alien replied, "Patriarch was one of her deadliest enemies back in the old days. Now she keeps what's left of him around as a trophy." The Turian responded, "As long as he lives, he is a perfect example what happens when you go against Aria."

This intrigued Arbiter saying in tongue knowing Cortana could translate for the Chief, "And how does this show anything?"

Cortana seemed amused as it was translated to Chief's helmet. "Why come to me?" Liam asked, "Aria's usual muscle not up for the job."

"Because Aria said so. What other reason do you need?"

The Commander crossed his arms over his chest, "People like Aria don't do things without a damn good reason. I want to hear it."

"Fine. But I didn't tell you this. Got me?" The Turian sighed, "If it gets out that Aria's protecting Patriarch…well, that can look like a weakness. And some people might want to exploit that. You are not on her payroll, so you helping Patriarch just seems like a random act of kindness."

"I'll look into it." Shepard said with a nod.

"Good Patriarch is down stairs, likely surrounding by his 'fans'. Get him into hiding until the mercs move on. Come back here when it done and you'll get your due."

"We will be back when the job is done."

"Good luck."

Shepard walked away saying to Arbiter and Chief, "I know where he is talking about. I went down there before and have seen him."

(Would his stories really get him into trouble?) Cortana asked as Chief and Arbiter followed the Commander.

"I don't know. I wasn't down there long enough to hear any stories but I remember hearing that he planned on telling one." Liam replied as he went through a door.

As they walked down the hallway Chief and Arbiter checked their guns. Liam had the M-9 Tempest and M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon, while Arbiter looking over the same pistol that Shepard had, he also had an Energy Sword and Plasma Repeater, Chief on the other hand was looking to see if his ammo was secure to his Strom Rifle and Katana Shotgun. They could hear the announcements as they walked. The Sangheili looked up while putting the pistol away and looked around the lower part of the club room. He never got this whole 'clubbing' thing the humans seemed to enjoy. It just seemed like a waste of time to him. Looking at the Chief he observed that the human didn't care about what was going on around him. Not that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention, no the human just didn't care to see what was going on around him. It made the human uncomfortable due to his awakened hormones. Arbiter didn't blame him one bit.

His brown eyes landed on a female Asari looking them over but focusing on the Chief. The Sangheili shook his head. The Spartan had always been a looker even if he wore his armor more than anything else in their universe. His height gave him an advantage most humans didn't have. Arbiter only got more amused; it was funny to him that the Demon was just now seeing what he had never noticed before. "Demon, you amuse me." The human turned just enough for the light to glean off the shine of his helmet. Arbiter felt the glare coming from behind the helmet thus amusing him more. "Now you know why those women always looked at you like that."

The Chief spoke feeling the need to voice this question out, "What do you mean?"

The leathery alien shook his head, "Never mind." Chief got the rest of the unsaid reply as he pieced it together in his head. He was oblivious to things of the romantic nature. He just didn't see what made this a problem. The two ignored the dancers trying to get them to sit and watch them dance. The Chief had a more quickened step, they made him feel weird and he didn't like that feeling. It made him feel vulnerable.

Arbiter having a bit more control over himself and continued to ignore the girls around them. While Liam chuckled out so the two could hear him on their ear pieces. "We are almost to the hallway needed." The Chief gave a nod in appreciation and continued to follow Shepard out of the uncomfortable room. When they got to the hallway the red haired human looked at the armored human, "I don't go to places like this on choice myself. So we should only be here if I need to see Aria or she needs something."


	27. Patriarch

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Patriarch

Here is the next chapter for you all.

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headreviewer mk2: Oh yeah, he would be in big trouble.

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I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Arbiter having a bit more control over himself and continued to ignore the girls around them. While Liam chuckled out so the two could hear him on their ear pieces. "We are almost to the hallway needed." The Chief gave a nod in appreciation and continued to follow Shepard out of the uncomfortable room. When they got to the hallway the red haired human looked at the armored human, "I don't go to places like this on choice myself. So we should only be here if I need to see Aria or she needs something."_

 _Now:_

When the three of them walked in Patriarch was saying, "No. You said he had close family. They'll just want revenge. Kill the family first. Then he'll get angry and come at you stupid…and then you kill him." Shepard walked up behind the Krogan with Chief and Arbiter. Patriarch turned around, "Don't think I know you human. I'm Patriarch. Aria's Patriarch. What do you want?"

Shepard asked, "What do you know about Aria?"

The Krogan started pacing, "A few centuries ago, Omega was my rock. When Aria arrived, she had nothing but the clothes on her back." The alien shrugged, "I thought she was another dancer."

Liam chuckled at that statement, "If there is one thing about women, you never underestimate them."

Patriarch laughed in agreement, "Yep, I learned that about her when she killed half my men then proceeded to convince the rest that she could run this place better than I could." He pointed to the ceiling, "She came for me here in this bar. We tore this place apart. She crushed one of my hearts, shattered half the bones in my body. And left me alive." Arbiter could tell that impressed the Chief.

"What made her decide to leave you alive?" The red headed human asked with a wave of his arm.

"She doesn't destroy what she can use." The Krogan replied with a shake of his head, "She said I could have all of my old comforts if I served as her adviser. I knew how things worked. I knew who to lean on, who to smack down, who to smile at." He pointed at the armored up human, "For example your man in armor here is someone I would want to have on my side. I can tell he will put up a large fight and that is just not the way to go. In fact I am sure that he would beat me with no problems." Patriarch shook his head, "But everyone who respected me saw me beaten, broken. They knew how strong I had been, she was stronger." The alien looked at the Chief, "If I were you, I would avoid a fight with her."

"Noted." The large human replied.

"Why do they call you Patriarch?"

The Krogan gave an amused chuckled, "It's like an Asari matriarch, only male." The alien started pacing again, "It was Aria's little joke. After she took me down, she let me live." He stood in front of the red haired human after walking in a small circle, "Kept me around as an advisor. And a trophy."

Shepard crossed his arms over his chest, "Rumor has it some people want you dead. Know anything about that?"

The Krogan nodded his head, "I can think of a few. I know things. Old secrets. Old grudges. A few floors you can dig up to find bodies underneath."

"Then there is Aria." The chief whispered in his helmet, this made Cortana giggle as she let it go to Arbiter's ear piece.

Patriarch continued, "Someone who wanted to weaken Aria might come after me. They'd do it to get to her you see. Not for me. I don't matter anymore to have enemies of my own."

"Seems like a blessing." Arbiter committed lightly causing the Chief looked at him. The human didn't have to show with his finger that he was raising his eyebrow. "You know that is true."

"Oh, let him be Arbiter. You know as well as I do that he would prefer he had the enemies than the people he deems under his protection." The A.I. said with a giggle, "That just makes my Spartan himself."

The Krogan nodded his head, "Ah, got enemies you need to get rid of Armor Man?"

"Nothing to be concerned about." Was the simple reply, this served as amusement for the Krogan.

Liam stated, "A Krogan as old as you must have some great stories."

The Patriarch took one step back, "I killed a lot of people, lived well, and was beaten by a small Asari who keeps me around as an example. My time is done. Anyone I killed is long forgotten. The stories are Aria's, now."

Shepard walked forward with his right arm out for a few seconds before falling to his side. "Some people want you dead. I've been asked to move you to safety."

Patriarch responded sarcastically, "Of course. Arai wouldn't want me hurt. It would make her look bad." He looked away and shook his head before looking back at Liam. "But perhaps Aria's reputation is no longer my concern. Perhaps I will stay, and see who thinks me important enough to kill."

Shepard nodded his head that was a fair idea, he didn't blame the Krogan. Quickly thinking he said, "Let us handle the assassins for you. You know as well as I that can make you look strong."

"And what, your name grows to be important while I remain an old man who lets others fight his battles?" The Krogan asked throwing his arms in the air.

Liam gave a smirk as he replied, "No, you would be a powerful warlord that has forces under his command. That makes you more than just Aria's Trophy." Arbiter and Chief looked at their commander, he really was different than what either of them were used to.

That got the old Krogan thinking, "You could…You could be my krantt. Fighting for my honor. If you would do this for me, I would be grateful. I might even be a Krogan again."

The commander nodded still with the smile on his face, "We will be back with the news." He walked out with the other two following him.

"That handled interestingly." Arbiter said as he followed the human.

"I like to mix things up and keep people on their toes. Besides I was told it would look like me being a good Samaritan." Green eyes looked at the Sangheili dancing with amusement. "I'm doing what I do best." The Chief managed to keep the amusement in his chest this time as he saw the look in Liam's eyes. The way the man was smiling reminded him of Sergeant Johnson. That man knew how to be serious but he did have his own kind of humor. He also was one of the reasons the people fighting under him did well. He was a good leader. Just like Liam was proving to John he was.


	28. Warning

Okay, so for right now I am unable to update any of my fics. It's a technical issue. I'll try to get this fixed as soon as possible and get right back to writing them. I am so sorry my faithful readers I swear I'll try to get this sorted out. Ug, sometimes I can't stand technology.

Till I can up day again my readers.


	29. Bad Timing

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bad Timing

Oh my gosh, I'm back. YES! I don't know how I did it but I fixed the issue. Goodness I hope it holds. I did not like having that issue. Thank ya'll so much for waiting patiently. You have no idea how much it was driving me nuts that I couldn't update. (Happy sigh) Yay! I'm so happy I'm back. Anywho enough about me getting back in lets just jump right in. Happy reading ya'll.

Review Replies:

 **Knight5946 (Chapter 27):** : ) I know it's so fun. : p

 **Guest (Chapter 28):** : ) I simply adore the idea of Tali and Chief.

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"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"I like to mix things up and keep people on their toes. Besides I was told it would look like me being a good Samaritan." Green eyes looked at the Sangheili dancing with amusement. "I'm doing what I do best." The Chief managed to keep the amusement in his chest this time as he saw the look in Liam's eyes. The way the man was smiling reminded him of Sergeant Johnson. That man knew how to be serious but he did have his own kind of humor. He also was one of the reasons the people fighting under him did well. He was a good leader. Just like Liam was proving to John he was._

 _Now:_

Walking through a door they saw two Krogan's talking. Liam walked up with the two behind him. One of the Krogan spoke, "Out of our way human."

"You the one's here for Patriarch?" Said human replied standing up tall.

The two Krogan indicated to the two behind Shepard, "What if we are? You gonna do something about it?"

"Patriarch sent us." The human replied crossing his arms over his chest with a wide smile on his face, "He told us to do whatever it takes."

The two looked between the three in front of them, "You are Patriarch krantt? I wasn't aware the old man had one."

Cortana laughed in the ear buds the three wore, (Shows them what they know.)

The Spartan touched the Katana Shotgun attached to his back as Liam laughed and cracked his knuckles, "Should have done your homework." All Shepard did was punch the closet Krogan to him and while both Chief and Arbiter took quick head shots.

Master Chief shook his head and said quietly, "That was too easy."

"I agree with the Demon. Jiralhanae that are unaware are harder to kill than those two were." The leathery skinned alien added. The Chief nodded in agreement.

"That was a clean kill Arbiter." Liam commented.

"I used to lead several ships before that I trained very hard to be a good marksman." Arbiter replied ignoring his questioning gaze. This let Liam know he did not wish to talk more about what he had just mentioned.

"That is fair enough." Shepard thought to himself, 'I think getting Arbiter's trust is going to be harder than Chief's. He seems to like humans more than the other aliens on my ship but he has a hardened heart. It even seems not even Master Chief himself knows a lot about him. In fact Chief and Arbiter, despite trusting each other with everything, I bet hasn't told everything to each other.' He continued to watch the two that had formed the brotherly bond only during the last of their own war, 'It's amazing what being on the battle field does to people. When with the right people…' Arbiter turned and looked at the Chief and nudge him in thier own way of asking a question to which the Master Chief responded with a hand motion, '…it can form a bond that will never be broken.' He looked forward as they all entered the room where Patriarch was, 'And to think this one was built probably over a short time span.'

The Krogan seemed happy to see them, "You killed them all?"

Liam nodded smiling, "Of course, we wouldn't have returned if any in the assassination attempt was alive."

"Then everyone knows that Patriarch is not to be crossed." Patriarch walked and stood in a different spot. "Thanks to you, Aria might think of me as more than a trophy. A real adviser, maybe. Or even a threat."

Liam spoke up, "Use this, don't let people think you are weak again."

The three turned to go out but Patriarch spoke up stopping them, "Thanks to you. I am a Krogan. By the way, be careful with Aria. She will approve of what you have done, I think, but not of you altering the balance of Omega. I think it reminds her too much of herself."

Liam nodded and walked out with Chief and Arbiter, his mind on the two with him. It still blew his mind that the two of them were more powerful than they looked. He hadn't seen much of the Sangheili's skill but he was impressed. Especially to have learned that he once led ships. The way he had spoken reached Liam. He could tell something bad had happened making him lose that position he once had. It made him curious what had actually happened.

Chief gave a tiny sigh and looked to the side. His fist clenched at his side, something in his body was making him feel unstable. Stopping his put his hand against the wall. Tali flashed through his mind. Chief shook his head to try and clear it, 'Damn, get a hold of yourself.'

'This couldn't be happening at a worse time.' Arbiter thought to himself as he stood next to the Master Chief, "Demon you need to calm your mind." Chief took calming breaths but the Sangheili knew that was just his way of saying he was trying.

The armored human could hear laughing in his head, 'It's not that hard. Just stop thinking about it. I need a distraction. I need to shoot something.'

(Come on big man, deep calming breaths. Your readings are going crazy in here.) The A.I. said.

Liam looked at the scene and groaned mentally, 'Damn it, right now of all times? I have always hated when our hormones acted at the worst moments. And there is nothing he can do to stop it right now except learn to control them.'

"Demon, think of the battle field. You want to shoot something, shoot something your imagination comes up with on the battle field." The alien suggested as he stood in front of the struggling human.

Master Chief did as suggested and thought of an old field that he used to train in when he was a kid in the military. They had dummies that they were told to imagine was the enemies. Envisioning one of them as a Hunter he fought it in his head. When he was done with the mental fight he let out a calmed breath looking at Arbiter with a nod of appreciation. The alien nodded back turning face the commander as the Chief pulled himself away from the wall and looked toward Liam. "Forgive me."

The human commander nodded, "It's okay, I figured it was going to happen sooner or later. Hormones can be the worst."

Arbiter nodded in agreement, he may come from a military species but he too was not exempt from the laws of hormones. They really sucked because they could really mess your head if you were on the battle field. The Sangheili were lucky because that they trained early in self control. "Let's go meet this Aria; I'm sure she is just waiting to meet us."

They walked down the rest of the hallway and went to where Aria was staying at. Just as they went to go up the stairs the Turian that had told them the mission spoke up, "Aria wants to speak to you human. She heard you took on the Blood Pack assassins yourself."

Cortana laughed in their ear buds, (Damn right we did.)

Liam chuckled quietly to himself, 'Man I love her personality.' Him, Arbiter, and Chief stopped at the top of the steps and looked at the blue skinned alien. He kept his smile to himself as she looked over at Arbiter first. He didn't know what she was expecting but at least she knew that he threw a curve ball at her.


	30. Long and Bloody

Chapter Twenty-Nine:Long and Bloody

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

 **XxadvengerxX25:** Sounds like an awesome read. : ) I'm glad you like the story.

 **(Guest Reviewer) Wallflower:** : ) I honestly can't wait till I get there. It will be fun to write when Chief realizes that. XD

 **(Guest Reviewer) A13x:** That is good information to know. : )

 **Dragonbxlb (Chapter Two):** For cole protocol I can assure you that Cortana has activated them. As for Mordin he is one of the hardest characters for me to play surprisingly.

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I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _They walked down the rest of the hallway and went to where Aria was staying at. Just as they went to go up the stairs the Turian that had told them the mission spoke up, "Aria wants to speak to you human. She heard you took on the Blood Pack assassins yourself."_

 _Cortana laughed in their ear buds, (Damn right we did.)_

 _Liam chuckled quietly to himself, 'Man I love her personality.' Him, Arbiter, and Chief stopped at the top of the steps and looked at the blue skinned alien. He kept his smile to himself as she looked over at Arbiter first. He didn't know what she was expecting but at least he knew that he threw a curve ball at her._

 _Now:_

Aria's eyes moved to Master Chief and looked at the armor. With no change on her face she looked at Liam, "Word has it that Patriarch's krantt took out the men sent here to kill him. Which is funny because I didn't know he had a krantt."

Liam calmly responded, "Patriarch has more influence than you thought."

"I see. Well. Maybe I should watch my back then." Aria replied, "It's not what I asked…but you got the job done." Shepard went and sat down and waited for her to ask, "So this is the man I have been hearing about." Chief didn't acknowledge her as he and Arbiter were more concerned with having their own silent conversation. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the two. They both seemed like the silent type of people. Looking more at Arbiter she asked, "You, I don't believe I have seen your race of people before."

The Sangheili looked at her with his brown eyes, "Hm, so it would seem." Chief did an unknown sign language to the ones there, but Arbiter understood what it meant and shook his head, "Quiet Demon, I happen to like that saying."

Liam chuckled at them, as they stopped what they were talking about to focus more on the topic at hand. The Chief focused his attention to the woman looking at the two of them. Part of him wanted to attack but he held himself back from the urge. She reminded him way to much of people from ONI. Arbiter nudged the armored human only to chuckle when the human just looked in his general direction.

"To answer you statement Aria, yes. He goes by Master Chief." Shepard said leaning on his hand, "The alien next to him is a friend of his, he goes by Arbiter."

"I see." She seemed to be assessing them now that she had their attention. The unknown alien seemed to just stare back at her. His eyes telling her he didn't trust her, not even a little bit. "You called your friend a demon, why?" Upon a deeper examination she found that he seemed standoffish to everyone there but the armored human.

"Would you not find him a demon as well, when faced with an emotionless mask?" Arbiter replied cryptically his untrusting eyes never leaving hers.

If the Asari was surprised she didn't show it. When she realized Liam wasn't leaving she turned to look at him, "Did you need something else?"

Shepard nodded, "I wanted to ask you about the history between you and Patriarch?" In the corner of his eye he could see that Arbiter and Chief were both listening and had started to discretely look around at any and all exits should the conversation go bad. He wanted to shake his head at this but he didn't and let the two of them continue their assessment. He understood why they were doing so in the first place anyway. Aria's men looking at the two were confused as what to do with them. Despite the fact the two with Liam felt it they had no idea if they were a threat or not.

Aria waved her men down, she didn't know the two with Liam but that did not stop her from being able to tell if they were not going to attack. She after all was the leader of Omega. Their movements were small but to her trained eyes she spotted what most of her men missed. They were not a threat to her; despite the fact that the alien didn't trust her and the way that the armored man had his body positioned told her he didn't like her for one reason or another. "Our history is Omega's history. Long, bloody, and always ending in my favor. The details are complicated." She stood up and looked over the edge of the seat to the dance floor below. "When I arrived Omega was lawless. A land of…opportunity. I built alliances, and destroyed the fools who wouldn't get in line. Which was most of them. But Patriarch was something different. A powerful friend."

The red haired human leaned back against the sofa, "I'm surprised you were anything but rivals."

"We were allies for a hundred years. I supposed he decided that was long enough. It wasn't a surprise when he turned. He controlled the muscle. My people contributed more subtle action…espionage, politics, assassination. Fortunately for me, his men had become accustom to certain…benefits of working with Asari."

Liam decided to be cheeky, "Superior intel? Assasination?" He could hear Cortana laughing in his ear piece. Where Chief and Arbiter were not interested, but still listening reguardless, the A.I. was certainly interested.

This amused Aria a little, "That's cute. No I took advantage of certain…skills my people try to down play." She walked to where her back was to Liam but looking at Chief and Arbiter though she paid them no mind, "Patriarch's men abandoned him in droves. In the end, we fought face-to-face on this very spot." She sat down, "The toughest fight of my life. But of course, I won."

"Patriarch doesn't sound like something an Asari would come up with."

Aria looked the Chief when his body moved when there was movement in the corner, it seemed he had spotted her back up and alerted Arbiter in some way thus causing the unknown alien glanced to the other corner spotting the other one. It seemed both of them were extremely observant. As she watched him she replied to the commander, "I found it humorous. He wanted power, and we pretended he had it with a word that doesn't exist for my people. I eventually found a certain respect for the title. And the man." Her blue eyes never left the armored human, he intrigued her. She knew that he had power practically leaking from him and despite not seeing his face at all because of his helmet she could tell that he was very intelligent. But something about him seemed unbalanced, not enough to mess him up yet probably enough to distract him. That was all she was able to get due to him holding any reactions in that the unknown alien seemed to be able to read like an open book.

"So you keep him around as a trophy." Liam observed.

The Asari looked at Shepard and said unashamed, "I did. A trophy and an example. Whenever someone thought about taking me on, I pointed them to Patriarch. Dignity is one of the few commodities not available on Omega."

"Hm, okay." The green eyed human stood up, "I should be going. We need to get back to the ship. I believe Chief has a sparing match later." At the mention of the match Chief looked over at Liam, "Unless that has changed."

"No, sir." Aria looked at the armored human again. That was only the second time he had verbally spoken and both times it had been only to Liam Shepard. The way he said it held a high amount of respect. The alien didn't show the same amount of respect as Chief had but he had enough for the man.

Liam nodded to her, "I will be seeing you later."

The three walked off and as they got far enough away Master Chief spoke, "Something about that woman doesn't sit right with me."

"I'll take that into consideration Chief. However I honestly have no reason to come here too much." Liam replied as they went to get back on the Normandy.


	31. Sense of Humor

Chapter Thirty: Sense of Humor 

Here is the next Chapter for you all.

I wanted to tell you all that I have posted a new story that is a crossover between The Mummy and Dance Central, it's called The Tag Along. It's not a very long story and it is completed so all I have to do is upload a chapter when I get a chance. : )

Review Replies:

 **Etain-SheWolfOfThePictTribe:** Oh, if I get to write that it would be fun to do. I can just envision that fight already. I hope I can make that work into the story.

 **Guest (August 31, 2018):** I found it and am going to read it when I get the chance. Thank you.

 **A12x (Guest reviewer):** That truly would be interesting wouldn't it. I wonder who would win. : )

 **Wallflower (Guest Reviewer):** To be honest I do plan on having Chief help with Tali's mission. As for you second review, I honestly have no idea as I haven't gotten that far in writing this. It is possible due to how military smart Arbiter and Chief are but I just haven't thought about it that far yet.

 **Guest (September 22, 2018):** Okay when I read your review it had me smiling from ear to ear. I originally had it to where Arbiter was supposed to be able to eat both. However made a choice not too long later and changed it. Now that I have read your review it is highly possible that I might go back to my original decision. I make no promises as I myself sometimes don't know what I'm about to write at times

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"No, sir." Aria looked at the armored human again. That was only the second time he had verbally spoken and both time it had been only to Liam Shepard. The way he said it held a high amount of respect. The alien didn't show the same amount of respect as Chief had but he had enough for the man._

 _Liam nodded to her, "I will be seeing you later."_

 _The three walked off and as they got far enough away Master Chief spoke, "Something about that woman doesn't sit right with me."_

 _"I'll keep that into consideration Chief. I honestly have no reason to come here too much." Liam replied as they went to get back on the Normandy._

 _Now:_

A couple of days later Arbiter was heading up to get some food when he and Jack both stepped into the elevator. At first the Alien just glanced at her from the corner of his eye before he spoke before placing a hand on his chest. "I'm The Arbiter?"

Without missing a beat she replied with a nasty tone, "Jack, now what do you want?"

The Sangheili dropping his hand from his chest, "Honestly just wanted to get to know you. You remind me of someone I know back home. They were distant as well, didn't want to get to know anyone." His brown eyes looked into her eyes.

She scoffed, "Sounds like you want to treat me as some kind of charity case." She pointed a gun at him, "News flash, I don't need it."

Arbiter laughed deeply and walked out of the elevator saying over his shoulder, "If I was treating you like a charity case I would give you food and leave. I would not waste my time talking. I don't waste words."

Jack walked out shocked. Putting her gun away she watched the alien sit next to the man called Master Chief. It was interesting to her that neither had given their birth names, because clearly saying his name was The Arbiter was a dead giveaway. It was like they held it as something special. 'Hm, something tells me this isn't the last time I will be seeing him.' She found her eyes looking back at the alien, he was interesting to look at. He didn't look like other aliens she had seen. His leathery skin looked warm to the touch, his brown eyes that had looked at her guarded much heartache, the armor he wore didn't look like much but there was something that was different about it, then there was the way he interacted with the man that didn't speak much. He treated him like he was his blood brother rather than a comrade in arms.

Seeing Arbiter at their table Garrus showed him the comic strip he liked only to be met with confusion making the Turian sigh, "My humor is lost on you two." Tali laughed at the armor plated alien getting nudged lightly, "Oh shut it."

"What? You already tried Chief why would Arbiter be any different?" The Quarian giggled swatting the Turian's hand away, "You keep your grubby hands to yourself."

"Grubby hands huh? I'll show you grubby." Tali laughed backing away from him.

While the large human seemed to just watch with an unconscious tilt of his head Arbiter seemed to be watching with silent amusement. Shaking his head Arbiter stood up and walked away to get some food, Master Chief not far behind him. Her eyes narrowed on his back as she thought about his last statement, 'He doesn't waste words huh? Does that mean he only talks if he feels that it is beneficial to him or is he trying to tell me that he finds me worth his time?'

Arbiter looked over at her giving her a respectful nod before placing his order. He didn't place himself in any kind of sexual thoughts. He just kind of stood there seemingly having a silent conversation with the human next to him. Arbiter gave his version of a smile with a twist of his mandibles when the human gave a very clear look of confusion. Jack focused on the Chief, 'What? When did his emotions start to come out? Every time I have seen him he's never shown any. Even when I taunted him he just shrugged it off as if what I said was nothing.'

The look of confusion quickly went back to a neutral expression making Arbiter roll his eyes grunting out, "Demon, you need to let them free. The longer you keep them locked away the harder it will be for you to get used to them." Those icy blue eyes looked away to get his lunch but whatever he was trying to hide the alien saw it, "Stop that. You decided to go down this route. Don't you dare back out. That would be very unlike you." The human looked at the alien and the two went back to having their silent conversation.

Walking into the room Liam shook his head when he heard the conversation between Arbiter and Chief, 'I knew he was going to fight it. I hope he gets used to it in time. These emotions can really help him in the future.' He glanced at Tali glaring playfully at Garrus who was chuckling at her, 'Especially in relationships. The Chief could really benefit from one.' He looked over at the Arbiter, 'He seems to be stable.' He smiled when the Chief leveled Arbiter with a look making the alien let out a smallest sound of laughter, 'Goodness these two are going to be fun to watch and make life on the Normandy all the more interesting.' The leathery alien made a face as Chief added ketchup to his burger making the alien choke slightly when he saw it. Liam covered his mouth when Master Chief tried not laugh out loud, letting only the smallest of chuckles get free.

Liam lost it when Garrus whipped his head around to look at the Chief, "You just laughed." Blue eyes peeked at him, amusement shining in his eyes, "You fucking laughed. Yes,…" His hand made their way into the air, "…the Chief has joined the dark side."

Arbiter shook his head, "The Demon has always had a sense of humor."

"Still, he gave a laugh. I don't care how small it was." The Turian replied grinning at the giant human, "Welcome to the world of laughing." Chief snorted and took another bite of his burger.

Cortana watched this play out with a fond smile, 'Finally he is opening up some more. It won't be long now.'

She sent the recording to E.D.I., "Are you sure?"

"Yes." The female A.I. looked at her arm as more became a normal dark blue, "My days are numbered and I can feel my conscious getting more torn. These memories need to be his. He needs to see that he had friends here. The memories I have sent to you with me and him, they will be good enough. Even the new ones I am sending you with me in them." She looked at the other A.I. "I love him too much to leave him alone. He needs to find a good life. His life is good right now." She looked over at the guns the Chief and Arbiter had laid out with smile. "Nothing is safe with me anymore." She looked at the large file she was about to send to the other A.I. It was filled with important information that the Chief needed to explain their universe to Liam. It also had information the Chief never knew but could find out the moment he was aloud to access it.

E.D.I. frowned, "He is going to act out even if you prepare him, you are aware of that right? He is, after all, still human."

"Yes." She sighed and sent the information, "Even if he didn't get the treatment he would still take it hard. I've been there for him and him for me for so long… This is going to be hard for the both of us." Her shoulders shook; she wanted to cry so badly. "I don't want to leave him. He's that important to me. We are the siblings that never turned their back on each other and protected to the end. But there is nothing I can do. Nothing can be done to save me and I have to accept that even if I don't want to." E.D.I. stayed silent letting her fellow A.I. grieve her loss.


	32. Illusive Dislike

Chapter Thirty-One: Illusive Dislike 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I wanted to tell you all that I have posted a new story that is a crossover between The Mummy and Dance Central, it's called The Tag Along. It's not a very long story and it is completed so all I have to do is upload a chapter when I get a chance. : )

Review Replies:

 **Wallflower (Guest Reviewer, Chapter 31, October 17 and 19 2018):** Trust me I have a plan for this. If I can make it work I so will. The Chief has always been lucky that is for sure.

 **ArchAngel319:** I am glad you enjoyed the chapter.

End Replies:

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _E.D.I. frowned, "He is going to act out even if you prepare him, you are aware of that right?"_

 _"Yes." She sighed and sent the information, "Even if he didn't get the treatment he would still take it hard. I've been there for him and him for me for so long… This is going to be hard for the both of us." Her shoulders shook; she wanted to cry so badly. "I don't want to leave him. He's that important to me. We are the siblings that never turned their back on each other and protected to the end. But there is nothing I can do. Nothing can be done to save me and I have to accept that even if I don't want to." E.D.I. stayed silent letting her fellow A.I. grieve her loss._

 _Now:_

Master Chief walked out the elevator his data pad in front of him as he read the information on the other ships residents armor. He was comparing it to the information that Cortana and Arbiter had given him on his armor and shielding system. Walking to the kitchen he went and sat down to work on different ideas that could work with the different systems. From what he understood each armor was pretty similar so he just had to find the perfect medium so that it worked on different armor sets. He also had to remember to test what he made against the shielding he was going to make. He wouldn't be able to make it perfectly like his own shielding but it would be as close as he could make it. Now that he thought about it he probably should ask Arbiter to look over any idea he has since his shielding did come from the covenant.

Just as he started typing out ideas he heard Miranda sitting across from him. Looking up his ice blue eyes He didn't say anything and waited for her to say what she wanted to say. As she folded her hands in front of her she looked directly into his eyes as he turned off the data pad that he had in front of him. He placed his hands over the data pad as she said, "Have you had time to read over the information on biotics?"

"I am currently reading them when I find the time." He easily held his hands still and waited patiently for her to continue the conversation. He didn't know the full extent as to what she wanted out of him with this conversation.

She placed a hands near her lips carefully thinking before she responded, "Did you need help looking through the information or are you doing good right now. "Arbiter and I are doing fine for the time being. If I have questions I'll ask Commander Sheppard or yourself."

"Just so you know it isn't only Sheppard and myself that use biotics. Jacob as well uses biotics."

"I'll keep him in mind." Chief responded.

Miranda nodded in understanding, "He tells me neither of you have gotten the chance to meet other than when you were getting a tour from Garrus. Would you like me to introduce you two?"

"No thank you. That will not be necessary." Master Chief responded, his mind going to when he did meet Jacob. Even when he had been shown around it didn't look like the man was all that interested in meeting him in the first place.

The woman nodded in understanding, "Did you want to set a date where you and I spar or would you like a little more time reading the information?"

"I'll let you know when I am ready to spar." Chief responded looking down at the data pad under his hands. In the corner of his eye he could see the man they had been talking about walking in to get something to eat. He tapped his finger, "Is there anything else you needed to ask?"

At first she went to get up but then resettled and leaned forward, "I was asked about my armor a few days ago and asked to send what I had on it to Sheppard. Am I wrong in assuming that your are upgrading the shielding?"

"I am doing the shielding." The Spartan replied his ice blue eyes looking into her own blue eyes.

"I just wanted confirmation to be honest." The cerberus operative replied. Looking into his eyes she could see that despite his hardest to hide it he was still curious as to why she was still talking to him. It bothered her that she could see his emotions so easily. As much as it had bothered her that she had a hard time reading him the first time she met him, but she had gotten used to him looking at others with cold and emotionless eyes. Part of her felt that he was starting to become unstable. Unfortunately it seemed that despite knowing what was going on with the resident Spartan Sheppard refused to tell her what truly was going on with the Chief. It also didn't help that he had high hopes that Master Chief would figure out what he needed to do before whatever was happening really impeded the man's impressive abilities.

Miranda really wondered what the people did to give Chief his impressive abilities without making him a biotic. After reading the reports written by the doctor and Mordin it was easy to tell he was stronger and faster than a normal human. There would not be many opponents that would be able to handle him in combat. She wondered how Arbiter was able to, since it seemed that the two of them had formed a bond that was based off of respect for each other. Taking a deep breath she stood up as she said, "If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. I'll help where I can."

"I'll keep that in mind." The Chief said in a bland tone, thus telling her he would not be seeing her anytime soon if he had any kind of issue.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Arbiter walked into the Cargo Hold he looked over at Cortana who seemed to be just sitting there. "Construct, how are you holding up?" He sat down and pulled out Plasma Repeater.

She smiled at him, "G…" The symbols on her body went nuts for a second, "G…Good. Forgive me; it is getting hard to hold myself together." The Sangheili looked away for a moment before deciding not to say anything. Shaking his head and started to clean the gun. "Arbiter." The Elite refused to look at her, his mind racing. He knew that deep down it was ridiculous to feel a kinship with a computer program. But it was really hard not to view Cortana as a sister much like how he viewed the Demon as a brother. "I know this is going to be hard for you." In the corner of his eye he could see her smiling at him, "You and I have gotten to know each other in the short time you and the Chief have been working together. I'm going to miss you and the Chief."

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help you?" The alien looked at her, "My technology is more than compatible with your systems. I'm know I can come up with a solution to help you."

She shook her head causing him to sigh. With a soft voice she said, "Arbiter, I need you and the Chief to be there for each other. I wish that you could fix the problem in time. I really do. There simply isn't enough time to save me."

"The demon has always had luck on his side, as the humans say."

"Be that as it may I have made all the required calculations and have found by the time there is a way to fix my issue it would be too late." The A.I. folded her hands in her lap. "I don't want to give him false hope that I will live."

Deciding that he would still look into the problem Arbiter looked at the A.I., "What makes you different from other A.I.'s"

Cortana sighed, "Arbiter…"

"No, you and E.D.I. may have run your numbers but I will not allow the Demon to lose you if I can help it. The humans are simply too emotional for him not to react. I care not how much they have changed him over the years."

"I know."

"Now, what makes you different from other A.I.'s?" The Sangheili asked his dark eyes boring down into the constructs own. Cortana looked into his eyes her shoulder dropping. "Don't look at me like that. You running cycle is at half capacity due to you breaking down. You are likely to have missed something vital as have E.D.I."

"Okay, just don't tell the big man. I don't want to give his hopes up. This is already hard on him." When Arbiter nodded she explained what little she could.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

When Arbiter walked out of the Cargo Area he froze when he saw a man walking out of the elevator. Just watching him made his skin crawl. The man turned and gave a nod in his direction before disappearing into another Cargo Room. The Elite turned to Jack and Tali who happened to be walking by, 'I still don't like him.'

"He is a Mercenary." Jack said looking up at the Sangheili.

Tali looked at the taller alien in worry, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, what are you scared of him or something?" The human teased with a smirk. She really wanted to get under Chief or Arbiters skin, it was too tempting of a challenge for her not to try.

"No." The eight foot alien narrowed his eyes at the door the man entered, 'He and I will not be getting along any time soon.' He looked at the A.I. panel, "E.D.I. where can I find the Demon?"

"He is in the hanger sparring with Garrus." The A.I. replied, "Arbiter, the commander would like to see you and Master Chief in the meeting room." The Elite went in the elevator and pushing to button to the appropriate floor for the meeting room. He was confident he could find the room without an issue.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Just as Arbiter stepped off the elevator he found the first person he was met with was Miranda walking to said elevator rubbing her temples. Mentally he wondered why she was showing such signs of irritation but then he heard the Commander laugh at something in the room he was to head too. 'Yes, he does seem to hold many a means to cause people irritation.'

"Have you been asked as well if there were any upgrades that you could think of?" The moment he heard her talking he debated if he should respond to her question. Apparently he had stayed quiet too long as he could see that she was starting to get irritated even more in addition to whatever Liam caused. Deciding not to reply he headed to where the meeting room was located. He just hoped he didn't have to talk to anyone he didn't want to.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Master Chief walked into the meeting room with his armor on. Arbiter nodded in his direction as Liam turned to them and the table behind him disappeared. "The Illusive Man wishes to speak to you two."

The alien narrowed his eyes in distaste, "I have no wish to talk to him. I am with the Demon's views of the man."

"He's not giving me a choice." The redhead replied, "He wants to meet the unknowns I have on my team."

Master Chief clenched his fist, "I have no desire to speak to him. I follow you not him." The leathery alien nodded his head in agreement.

Liam nodded his head, "I find your points to be fair. So here's what I want to do." The Commander walked up to them, "He says he wants to see you. So we give him that. But as he asks questions I will give you free rein in whether or not you wish to answer. I can't nor will I force you to answer his questions. This way we get this done and over with. Then he can leave all his questions to me and what you feel is okay for me to answer when I have to talk to him from time to time. Does this sound like a fair deal?"

Arbiter looked at the Chief, "What do you think Demon?"

"To clarify we don't have to answer any questions?"

"Precisely, I refuse to make you talk to him if you don't want to. I understand where you are coming from. I was once in your shoes about working with Cerberus. But in my current position I can't be picky right now in who I work with. You two do." Liam responded looking at the faceplate of the Chief's armor.

"Once he's gotten a good look then I am leaving. If there is information I need to know I trust you to inform me." The armored human answered.

"What about you Arbiter?" Liam asked looking at the brown eyed alien.

"It's a deal, Sheppard. I also will leave just after he has seen me."

"Thank you both. I told him you two were not interested in meeting him but as I said he is not giving me a choice in this." Liam motioned for them to follow him on to the area where the table used to be. Lights went around them and they appeared in a room with a view of space. "I have them like you _asked_."

The man turned around and looked at the two behind Liam. Arbiter and Master Chief both stood to their full height making Liam look short next to the two of them. As the Alien looked at the Illusive Man unimpressed. He reminded him of those people that thought they were a big boss when in reality they just had a lot of money to throw around. Turning to the Chief he spoke using his native tongue knowing that Cortana had programmed the human's armor to translate what he was saying immediately as of late. The Chief was amused as he himself was not impressed by the man's attempt to try and appear more powerful than he actually was. He didn't even compare to the men he had worked under. As the Chief responded using a sign language to respond the Illusive Man was looked at the two of them with curious eyes. Just seeing their different sets of armor really caught his interest. He could only wonder what that tech could do for the future of the human race. "Hm, so you two must be Master Chief and Arbiter." The alien walked off with the armored man not far behind. His eyes went to Liam, "I told you I needed to talk to them."

"I told you they were not interested in meeting you." The Commander said crossing his arms trying his best not to look smug, "That was the best I could do."

The Illusive Man watched the red haired male he put funds into bringing back. He tapped his chair then leaned forward, "This makes me think they are a danger to the mission."

"They are not a danger to the mission. The Chief has told me he will help me with the mission and Arbiter will follow him. I don't have to know them to the 't' to figure this out." Liam defended, "I trust them."

The blue eyed Illusive Man leaned back, "And you are sure you can trust them. Neither of them came without their armor."

Liam straightened his back, "That's because they don't trust _you_." Then he walked out and let the connection close. Looking at the two that walked out on the Illusive man he smiled, "Just know despite him not showing it he is quite pissed." Arbiter chuckled while the Chief snorted. The three walked out to go about the rest of their day.


	33. Bottled Up

Chapter Thirty-Two: Bottled Up 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

I apologize for how long it took me to update. My hubby and I went on a vacation and I and I left all my things at home so that I could focus on him and family.

Review Replies:

Etain-SheWolfOfThePicts: I've always disliked him the moment I saw my hubby playing the game. There is just something that I really don't like about him.

Scarease: yep yep

A13x (Guest Chapter 32, October 27): Oh yeah, she has no idea what she is asking for but even then Master Chief has never fought someone with a biotic.

Knight5946 and Guest (Chapter 32, October 28): To be honest the fate of Cortana depends on how I write the later chapters.

End replies:

I want to give a huge thank you to my husband and a friend of mine for looking this over for me. They are such a big help.

"blank" Chief talking out of suit speaker

(blank) Chief talking in suit, speakers off

(blank) Cortana talking in suit

"blank" Cortana talking outside suit

 _"blank"_ Rampancy

{blank} Cortana and E.D.I. talking in A.I. data stream.

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day. Happy New Years. : D

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _"They are not a danger to the mission. The Chief has told me he will help me with the mission and Arbiter will follow him. I don't have to know them to the't' to figure this out." Liam defended, "I trust them."_

 _The blue eyed Illusive Man leaned back, "And you are sure you can trust them. Neither of them came without their armor."_

 _Liam straightened his back, "That's because they don't trust_ _you._ _" Then he walked out and let the connection close. Looking at the two that walked out on the Illusive man he smiled, "Just know despite him not showing it he is quite pissed." Arbiter chuckled while the Chief snorted. The three walked out to go about the rest of their day._

 _Now:_

Arbiter was sitting at a table with a data pad comparing his notes about the cloaking in his armor to the outside of the ship. By all means it was possible to upgrade the ship to allow the feature but something in the math was just wrong so everything he was coming up with was not working. Putting the data pad down he stared at the device that he had in mind to make it work. He already knew how to get into the systems with E.D.I.'s assistance when he would finally put it in but, as was said before something was missing. Was the design not right? He flipped the device on the screen around and resisted rubbing his face, 'Of course it was the connection port. The connection I am using is heavily based on the home. I need to gear it more toward this universe.' He clicked his mandibles together, 'I knew this was going too easily.'

"You seem agitated." The Sangheili looked up at Commander Shepard, "Anything I can help you with?"

Arbiter contemplated if he needed the man's help before replying to the question, "At the moment no." The alien replied tapping his fingers against the table looking at the data pad in front of him, "It is just a matter of…gearing the connection between what I have to this universe. If I require help I'll let you know."

"About that, will it be on the outside of the ship or inside."

"On the outside of the ship itself but underneath the hull. I will need to wire it into the system to make it work. E.D.I. will be able to help me I'm sure." The leathery alien replied looking around. He was hoping to see Master Chief talking with the Quarian again. It was fun to see how the human reacted to his newly awakened emotions. He had been talking with the Chief about his emotions and how it was normal to react to people when the emotions tried to react, if the man didn't stop himself that is. It wasn't going too well but when he was around Tali he seemed to have a harder time reeling the emotional reactions in. Not seeing him made the Elite shake his head, "The Demon is hiding again."

"You really don't like that he does that do you?" Liam asked amused as he leaned on his arms.

"It's not the hiding himself that bothers me. It's the hiding of his emotions that does." Arbiter looked turned off the data pad after saving his progress. His three fingers clenched into fists, "He goes and gets the cure then does everything in his power to stop his natural emotional responses." The alien looked worried, "I get why he does it but…"

"You want him to be free."

Arbiter nodded, "Yes, but I also don't like him backing out of what he stepped up to do. He's always stepped up and dealt with the consequences. I understand emotions can be terrifying to someone who is not used to them but it isn't like him to back down." Even as he said that he knew why the man was not stepping up, he didn't want to lose Cortana. It was exactly what it looked like to Thel 'Vadam, the Demon was trying to keep things the same so she would never die. He felt himself clam up worrying the Commander across from him. It actually was hurting him more than he thought it was going to. Just the thought of losing the A.I. wasn't just breaking Master Chief, it was hurting Thel as well. It felt like he was losing family. His eyes closed, 'Damn it, I told myself I wouldn't react.' He picked up his data pad, "I need to be going."

Liam watched the Elite walk way, 'This isn't good. What is going on? First Chief continually clams up after getting the treatment and now Arbiter is hiding his own pain. I'm not getting to know them fast enough. I can't force this process to go any faster with their type of personalities but at this rate I'm going to be too late.'

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

"How is it going Professor Solus?" Cortana asked flickering into view in the lab, a light smile on her digital face.

The Salarian looked over his ever seeing eyes immediately picking up on the difference in the number of lines on the human looking A.I. His mind at this point was going a million miles hour trying to understand why this was happening to her. He would ask but from the last time he did she didn't come and visit the next day. And while he didn't see the chief too much he had spotted a slight difference in how he carried himself, it was slightly concerning. However he had a question to answer, "Excellent. Serum for Chief, nearing completion. If tests are show promise, will have an easier time with emotions." The Salarian caught his breath before continuing. "Perhaps accept what he has chosen to do."

The Salarian doctor continued to prattle on causing the UNSC A.I. to giggle as she said to her fellow A.I., {It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for him to continue on like this.}

{Yes, I believe a human would say that he's trying to sort things out.}

{Yes, I have heard a human or two saying a line similar when we were in the Halo Universe.} She turned her attention to the alien who had not stopped talking.

"…a slight issue with serum's interactions, to Chief's DNA. Still trying to figure out the best way to solve that." Quickly Cortana played the part of the conversation she had missed when talking to E.D.I. "If not properly handled, serum could make the emotional turbulence worse."

"Professor, it's okay." The Salarian stopped and looked at the A.I. "Take your time figuring out the issue. The big man knows you are working as hard as you can with all of the projects you are doing. Trust me when I say that Master Chief will understand if you don't get it done fast."

"Master Chief doesn't seem to be having too many struggles for the time being. I picked up it is likely once every two to three hours that he feels at least a single emotion he has a hard time controlling." E.D.I. added.

"Over all he is doing very well. He's not overwhelmed yet, you have time." Cortana made sure to add since she had a better idea of how her Spartan worked mentally.

"Yes, you are right, inform when condition worsens, will work faster to get it done. Last thing anyone aboard needs is a set back. Especially one that can hinder him." Mordin was quiet for a moment then asked, "What of this Arbiter? Have yet to meet him. Any special needs Dr. Chakwas and I need to know about?"

"I'm sure there are. I can talk to him for you if you want?" The blue A.I. smiled and crossed her arms over her chest, "Unlike my big man Arbiter might not talk to you. He's very private and likes to keep it that way. Chief is private yes, but he's been around plenty of doctors to know what he needs to share and what he can keep secret and to himself."

"And this Arbiter has not?"

"No he has, the only issue is since he's not home he's not sure who he can really trust right now." Cortana replied moving her hands to her hips. "Honestly it's better if I talk to him since he's had the time to get used to me and Chief. He's still trying to figure you all out."

"Very well, will leave you to talk to newest crewmember. What you are saying makes logical sense." The Salarian went back to what he was doing, "Now how to deal with this issue. Can only be a limited number of ways to handle this…" Cortana sat down watching the alien doctor go about his work. Despite the fact he never stopped talking at times it didn't bother her as it was soothing to her to listen to what he had to say.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Thel walked into the Cargo Bay and looked at the Demon asleep on his makeshift bed. The alien had seen the small twitch the human made alerting Arbiter to the fact that the sleeping man was now aware who the other person in the room with him. The tall human was on his side breathing peacefully as well as he could. Thel 'Vadam looked at the makeshift A.I. panel he and the Chief had made for Cortana. Sitting down on a bench in the room he put the data pad next to him and starred at it as his mandibles tightened. 'You are better than this Thel, you know she is going to shut herself down before she does any lasting damage. She has to. At the rate she is deteriorating she could be a liability to us as well as the Normandy.' Even as he thought this his mind was going to the contraption he was also making to try and help the A.I. Even as he had an idea of how to stop it he feared he wouldn't get it done in time. He looked down pulling off his helmet. Looking at his reflection in the metal, 'Who are you kidding? You are just as torn up about this as the Demon is. Stop lying to yourself. You could tell yourself facts all day to make you feel better but that won't take away the pain that you are going to feel if she is no long here.' He put the helmet down and folded his hands in his lap, 'At this rate you are being as bad as the Demon. I need to get to know more people here before I completely lose myself. This is not who I am.' He started the process of removing his armor. He needed sleep just as bad as the Demon did. He looked at the Demon, 'I don't even know his birth name. Why is that just bothering me now?' Continuing to pull off the rest of his armor he asked Cortana, "Where would you say I am in the status of friendship with the Demon?"

The A.I. flickered into view even though she had been watching him the entire time. His reaction was worrying her when he had first walked in. She knew it had been about herself, "I would say that if you asked what his name is he would not feel insulted but if he didn't want to give you his name then he would be polite and let you know verbally." She smiled at him hoping that would help his sullen mood. It only seemed to make him look at her like he was losing her though he was hiding it spectacularly. It was as she feared; the Arbiter was staring to see her as family just like he did with the Chief.

"Thel 'Vadam." She looked at him shocked not sure what he was trying to tell her with that for a second, "My name, it's Thel 'Vadam."

Her digital heart squeezed hearing that, "That's a good name, I like it." She watched as the Sangheili pulled a blanket out and covered his naked form. He really needed some clothes. As she got his measurements as she asked while he laid down on the bench he was on, "What do you wear at home?"

"Robes, the clothing you humans wear is constricting."

Hearing that made her giggle, "When you go shopping I will send the measurements to Tali and Garrus so they can get you some. It will be better than you sleeping like this." Her words fell on deft ears as the Elite fell asleep in a matter of seconds after replying to her question. Her eyes looked at her men sleeping. Sitting down and she folded her hands in her lap and watch them sleep. "You two will be okay. I promise. No matter what you two are the strongest people I know."


	34. Don't Give Up

Chapter Thirty-Three: Don't Give Up 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

Wallflower: Yep, Arbiter sees Master Chief as his brother after what they had been though before they were forced apart due to the ship. As for the Chief…I'm still trying to figure out the best way for him to react once he accepts his emotions. I had an idea but I'm not sure that it will pan out the way I was hoping. I guess we will all see hu?

Guest (January 8, 2019): At this point in the fic, not quite yet but in due time Master Chief will.

pt1oef (Chapter One): I hope you enjoy the story

End Replies:

A big thank you to my hubby and my friend for looking this over for me. : ) I am so thankful for them.

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

Her digital heart squeezed hearing that, "That's a good name, I like it." She watched as the Sangheili pulled a blanket out and covered his naked form. He really needed some clothes. As she got his measurements as she asked while he laid down on the bench he was on, "What do you wear at home?"

"Robes, the clothing the humans wear is constricting."

Hearing that made her giggle, "When you go shopping I will send the measurements to Tali and Garrus so they can get you some. It will be better than you sleeping like this." Her words fell on deft ears as the Elite fell asleep in a matter of seconds after replying to her question. Her eyes looked at her men sleeping. Sitting down and she folded her hands in her lap and watch them sleep. "You two will be okay. I promise. No matter what you two are the strongest people I know."

 _Now:_

Arbiter yawned as he left the elevator and went to get breakfast. As he walked over to Gardner he glanced at Jack sitting at a table by herself. He clicked his mandibles together then looked over at Garrus poking at his breakfast while he leaned on his other hand. 'He must have just woken up.' The Sangheili stopped and ordered his food.

The man smiled at him, "I know that look you got on your face." The Elite looked at the human man curiously as he handed him a tray, "You look like you're about to try something that could backfire."

"It is possible." Arbiter replied taking the tray and looking at Jack.

"Well then, I wish you all the luck."

The alien nodded as he walked over the female, "Is the seat taken?"

Jack looked up and rolled her eyes, "Yes, I have many people coming to sit with me so scram."

The Sangheili chuckled at her sarcasm and sat down making her glare at him. He calmly looked into her eyes un-phased by the dangerous biotic across from him, "I hear you are going on a mission with Shepard to the Citadel if I am correct."

"Yeah, what of it?" The testy human asked irritated that he wasn't leaving her alone.

This made Arbiter feel all the more amused as he made this top and bottom mandibles move as if it was a human mouth, "I heard you were going do you know who Shepard picked to go with you two?" She glared at him with her brown eyes, "I'm merely curious." He stated to eat the human food.

She snarled, "What do you want from me?"

This amused Arbiter, "For my question to be answered. I was close to hearing who was going with you and Shepard but then he and Lawson went out of range." For some reason her anger amused him. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing for him but at this moment he really didn't care he was having too much fun with this.

Her hands fisted up as she glared at him with all the hatred she could muster. The fact that it wasn't scaring the alien in front of her was making her even more annoyed. He was acting too calmly for her to think rationally. "What does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't." Was his reply, thus infuriating Jack even more. "I figured it was a way to get you to talk to me. Without delving into territory we were both not ready for."

"I thought you didn't waste words." Jack growled out.

Arbiter smiled, "I don't." She got up and started to walk away but paused when he spoke again, "I find you fascinating." Her brown eyes looked at him shocked, "I want to know what makes you tick. If it hasn't been made clear from the first time I talked with you on the elevator, then let me make it clear. If I felt that talking to you was a waste of my time, then I would only give you pleasantries like I do to Massani and Lawson." He picked up his food and walked over to where the turian was almost asleep on his hand without another word.

Jack stood there in her shock. That had not been what she had been expecting when he said he didn't waste words. But what he said did get her thinking, while she had never seen him interact with Cheerleader she has seen him interact with Zaeed. If her memory served her correctly he often held the man at a distance, using simple head nods in the man's direction. When Zaeed asked the Sangheili a question, Arbiter gave the man either a cryptic or a simple reply. Yet she often found the Elite near her large bubble. The last time her, Zaeed, and Arbiter were in the elevator together the Sangheili had put himself closer to her than he did the other male. She shook her head and walked off in the direction of the elevator, her mind reeling in what she just learned. 'Why me? I am rude to him. I taunt him. I don't talk very nice to him or that armored bastard. Why is it me he wants to get to know?'

When the elevator opened Master Chief walked out talking with the commander, "So I was wondering if you could go to the Citadel with Jack and I. I know you two don't particularly get along yet, but I thought you could use some time on the Citadel before Garrus and Tali took you shopping?"

Jack got onto the elevator slowly so she could hear the Chief's reply, "I won't be able to Commander. I am putting together the diagram for helping the shielding in everyone's armor."

Liam shook his head with a smile, "It's okay! I will just ask…"

The elevator door shut leaving Jack to herself, "Me and tin man on a mission together, is Shepard crazy? He's acts as bad as Cheerleader does with Cerberus. Always following the orders given to him by Shepard. So annoying." She rubbed her head and leaned against the wall of the elevator as it went down, 'Ugh, now that stupid alien has got me worried about who I will be working with on the Citadel.'

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Tali smiled when she saw Master Chief walking up to the door to the Cargo Area he and Arbiter stayed in, "Hey, Chief?" The human glanced in her direction letting her know she had his full attention, 'Don't back out of this Tali, you can do this.' "I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat on the Citadel with me before Garrus came to find us later that day." Her hands clutched nervously behind her back.

She watched his mouth move to answer instantly only to pause as he actually thought it through, "If I am at a good stopping point in the diagram I am working on for the upgrade in the shielding, then yes." Tali had a giddy smile as she noticed his face contorted to confusion after he replied. He seemed to have surprised himself with that response.

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan. I will come, say, two hours before and check to see if you are at a good stopping point." The human nodded and walked into the Cargo Area. Tali on the other hand went to her work station with the Ships Core and held a hand over her wildly beating heart, 'I did it, I asked him on a date.' She clenched her hand into a nervous fist, 'Oh no, what if he doesn't see it as a date? Maybe I could ask Arbiter if he knows if he sees it that way.' She slid down the wall to sit on the floor, 'Ugh, I don't need to ask Arbiter. I already know how he's thinking. Just from his response I can tell he has no idea I asked him on a date. I possibly need to be more blunt with him. This is such a pain in the ass.'

Kenneth laughed lightly, "A little trouble in love land?" He got smacked in the arm by Gabby, "Ow, me arm still hurts from yesterday."

"Well then maybe you should learn to keep your trap shut and I wouldn't smack your arm so often." Gabby replied before looking at the quarian watching them, "Sorry, he didn't mean to ask in such an offensive way."

"No, it's okay. It is a little trouble." Tali looked at the door as Shepard walked in. "Shepard." She went to get up but the man held his hand up and shook his head. Then the red haired male sat next to her on the floor.

"Ah, this feels nice." His eyes looked at her, "A little trouble with the big man."

"A little." Gabby and Kenneth went back to their work letting the two talk. "I just asked him out to lunch before we go and get clothes at the Citadel and I'm pretty sure he has no idea it was supposed to be a date."

"I'm not going to lie he probably doesn't." Liam bit his lip debating on what he should say, "Tali…when it comes to the Chief…I think you need to be bold with him. From what I understand of him he isn't going to get subtle hints. He is a man of action, romance probably isn't at the forefront of his mind. I doubt he thinks about it the way we do." Shepard paused and tried to find other words to help without saying why Chief was going to have a problem. Pulling up on knee so he could lean on it he added, "I've read the report by Professor Solus and Dr. Chakwas and…I'm not going to lie the guy you chose is not going to be easy."

Tali tilted her head, "What's wrong Shepard? What are you trying to tell me?"

Liam clicked his tongue before whispering to her, "I'm only saying this because I know it will help you understand. The Chief had his sexual drive in a sense rerouted back in his universe." Tali held a hand over her heart in shock, "A lot of what he has is due to enhancements and apparently it was decided that he was not allowed to have a…sexual urge on the battle field or at all. That's what I understand from what I read. He recently went and got this fixed with Mordin about the time we went and got Arbiter."

"Oh Keelah." The Quarian gasped.

"Yeah,…that's why it is going to be a little hard for you. He has them now but it also comes with a price. With the rerouting of his sexual urges it also helped him control his emotions better. Now that they are free he is still trying to reel them in and not use them because he is not used to them. In a sense he is in a delicate state where he is trying to figure all this out." Her hand made a fist so he continued to whisper, "Now I'm not telling you to not pursue him. I think this will be good for both you and him. In fact being in a relationship with you could do wonders on helping him understand his emotions as well as allow him to love."

Tali smiled and dropped her hand to her lap, "I…wow. I didn't know that had happened to him. That is sad to hear." She glanced at Liam, "I am glad you told me. I now have a better understanding as to why he has been reacting the way he has with me. One time I held his hand to comfort him and…his body language told me he was debating to himself. It now makes sense."

The human placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't give up on him Tali. He may be new to all this but you both deserve to be happy."

"Thank you Shepard."


	35. Getting Ready To Go Out

Chapter Thirty-Four: Getting Ready To Go Out 

Here is the next chapter for you all.

Review Replies:

 **ArchAngel319:** : ) I am glad you are enjoying the story. : ) Thank you very much.

 **pt1oef:** I do the best I can with the information I am gathering. : )

 **Alonso117:** : )

 **Guest (chapter 9, March 3, 2019):** I just want my readers to start off the chapter with something positive. : )

 **Wallflower (Guest, chapter 34, March 7, 2019):** I knew they were going to have a relationship that was going to slow in development. : ) After all this is Chief we are talking about ; )

 **Ben Walker1:** These are very interesting ideas that I will definitely be putting into consideration. With how I am usually a flow writer I will see how I can fit either one of them in. : ) Thank you for the thinking material for the story.

 **Guest (chapter 1, March 20, 2019):** 1-2) This is something I myself can't go back and change. I am sorry if this causes you problems for you to read the story. 3) This is something I didn't know and unfortunately I can't go back and change. For me as a writer it would mess with what I already have up. 4) Hm, interesting. I will go and see if I can fix that. Now that you mention it I am having small flashbacks to hearing Miranda call it a thermal clip. 5) I am kind of upset with myself with forgetting that Solus wasn't his first name. How in the world did I miss that when I was looking up the characters names for Mass Effect? 6) This is also something I will go back and try to fix if I can. 7) Yes sometimes I do catch that I change my mind in the middle of sentences. I actually now have a beta reader in one of my friends since my other one has been going through a tough time. They have been a great help to me. Thank you for taking the time to review my story. : )

 **Tempest86:** I plan on going through my stories eventually and finding all the mistakes that I made when I first started writing on FF. As for you suggestion I will put it into consideration. I have been given a few ideas so I need to know which one will work with the way I am writing the fic out. There is still time for me to reach that point but by that point I should know which rout I will be taking. I am glad you are enjoying the story.

End Replies:

I apologize for taking a bit to get this chapter out. Despite it being a chapter that was already premade (and the last premade one at that), I wanted to try and improve it to the best of my ability. The next chapters after this one will be made as the chapters are going up now. Sorry it took me so long to get through all of the premade chapters. : ) I am happy to say that I am looking forward to making these next chapters for The Spartan Crew Member.

I want to give a big thanks to my friend for looking this over for me.

I hope you all enjoy and have a Jesus filled day.

HMHMHMHMHMHMHMHM

 _Previously:_

 _Tali smiled and dropped her hand to her lap, "I…wow. I didn't know that had happened to him. That is sad to hear." She glanced at Liam, "I am glad you told me. I now have a better understanding as to why he has been reacting the way he has with me. One time I held his hand to comfort him and…his body language told me he was debating to himself. It now makes sense."_

 _The human placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't give up on him Tali. He may be new to all this but you both deserve to be happy."_

 _"Thank you Shepard."_

 _Now:_

The day had come to go to the Citadel and Chief could be found looking at the diagram of the partially done updated shielding for the armor. Cortana smiled, "Chief, that looks really good. I always knew you were the smartest man I would know, in addition to being the luckiest."

The human smiled amused at the flattery while Arbiter chuckled as he put the finishing touches to his own diagram, "Construct, you never cease to amuse me."

The A.I. smiled at the alien, "I'm glad I amuse you." Her eyes closed as a little of her data disappeared before it stopped milliseconds later. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Both the Chief and Arbiter were looking at her worried, "I'm okay boys. Don't worry about me."

The human looked back at the data pad while the sangheili sighed, "Con… Cortana, how much time do you have left?"

"Ten weeks and three days till I shut myself down." Her digital eyes looked into Arbiter's brown, "Trust me, it's better that I do it myself before things get bad. I'm already starting to break down. Holding myself together gets harder everyday."

"I understand, trust me I do." The elite replied looking at his data pad putting the last touches to the device he was going to make for the ship.

"Have you thought about the materials you will need?" Cortana asked with a tilt of her head.

"I have, I already let Shepard know what I needed. He told me he would find a way to get it to me." Arbiter replied, just finishing what his device was as the door to their Cargo Bay opened. Cortana flickered out of view just as Tali walked in. Arbiter looked at the quarian who looked nervous, "Do you need something?"

"I…" Tali looked at Chief, "Are you at a good stopping point?"

Arbiter looked amused as the human looked at the data pad before turning it off and putting it to the side, "I am."

"Where are you two going?"

Tali looked at the other alien in the room and as she did she noticed the strangest symbol branded into his chest, seeing as his chest armor was off for the time being. She wondered if it was one symbolizing honor or something bad, especially when she realized that she had never seen it till now. Realizing that she was close to staring she replied to the question, "The Chief and I are going to eat at a restaurant in the Citadel named Roswell Diner. It's a place that is in the area safest for humans to be around and one of several places where every race can eat." The quarian pulled out on her omni-tool to show a map of where they would be, "We'll be here. I'm sure you'd like their food as well since you are able to eat non-dexto food."

"Interesting, if we make our way here again I'll have to go there." Master Chief stayed quiet watching the two converse with each other.

"After that the two of us will be meeting up with you and Garrus to help you find the best places to get clothes." Arbiter looked at the human watching the two of them but also looking a bit lost in thought, though clearly still present should he need to react. Tali also looked over as she asked slightly nervously, "D…did…did you want to change before going out. We are going shopping with Garrus and Arbiter after. It would be easier if you were not wearing your armor for that."

"I'll help him get the armor off." The elite put his data pad to the side as the quarian nodded and scurried out of the room. "Alright Demon, how do we get this armor off?" Chief showed him some latches that held the chest piece in place and the two got to work removing the human's armor.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Tali wrung her hands together in her nervousness, 'Goodness, Arbiter was in there. And based on the expression he wore he knows how I feel about Chief. Is he going to tease me?' She shook her head as she could feel her body shaking slightly, 'No, he won't. He glanced over at the Chief after he looked at me. Does that mean he is going to help? Stop Tali, you are only making your nerves worse.'

"Are you okay, Tali?" Garrus asked walking up and stopping to stand next to her, "You look like you could be sick."

"I'm okay. I'm just a…little nervous." She looked up, "I'm…going out to eat with Chief. Arbiter is helping him get the armor off."

Garrus smiled, "How funny, I was just about to invite Arbiter and him to come hang out before we all went shopping." They heard a rather loud 'thunk' in the Cargo Bay, "I guess I will just ask Arbiter then we could meet up at Charlie's Line." Tali nodded causing the turian to put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Don't freak out. You are doing just fine Tali. You should probably take it slow with him. He seems to be on the uninformed side where romance is concerned. At least it looks like that to me."

"Shepard told me. He didn't want me to be uninformed." Tali said wringing her hands together again as she could still feel the nerves building up in her chest.

Garrus smiled, "I'm glad." He winked, "Now let's see how much trust Chief has in me, yeah?" Tali giggled, thankful for him lighting up her mood, as he knocked lightly on the door. "Do you two need help in there?"

"No, we are good. The Demon will be out as soon as we get this armor off him." The sangheili replied then went silent making Garrus chuckle.

He looked at Tali with a smile while she laughed at him. "It seems I still have a bit to work on. Especially with Arbiter." The turian joked as he and Tali sat down to talk while they waited patiently.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Arbiter shook his head as he heard how Garrus responded, "It seems you and him have being getting close in this friendship you two have."

Chief thought about the statement as he continued to help Arbiter get his own armor off, 'I guess I have been. I've been getting even closer to Tali and Garrus.' He wondered what it was that was making him more social. He remembered what he had read about being social. It was being interactive with other people outside yourself. He remembered being with the other spartans. They seemed more social than him. They even talked with the marines every once in a while outside work parameters. It had always confused him seeing them talk to the marines so comfortably. Every time he thought to try it he always held himself back reminding himself he was a leader and what if that reflected badly on him? Especially if he said the wrong thing. Then he thought about his time with Garrus, Tali, and the few times he's had a chance to be around Shepard. He would think about Miranda but she was a whole different thought process he didn't want to think about at the moment.

With Shepard it was easy but not at the same time. The man was his commander but then Liam would say things like, 'When we are on this ship you don't have to be so formal with me.' and 'You can relax I'm not going to grade you on your constant performance.' The man baffled him to no end. When they were on the battle field Chief knew exactly how to react with to him. When they were on the ship the man would smile at him and try to get to know him on a more personal level. Then with Garrus it was easy. The turian's personality seemed natural, not that the commander's wasn't, so when the alien did things that the Chief didn't expect he really wasn't too surprised. The alien was easy going but knew when to buckle down and get to work. He was even a talker on the battle field, though from what he could see only at the most appropriate times. Having had experience with people of the like, this didn't bother John.

Then there was Tali. It was easy to say that Chief did feel a connection with the quarian but he wasn't quite sure what it was to be exact. They both wore a suit, despite the different reasons for doing so. She was nice and tried to get to know him, much like Shepard. She even made sure to pop into the room just to talk to him for a few minuets not caring if it was one sided. He defiantly cared for her but the part that bothered him was he didn't know how he cared for her. He just knew that if something or someone were to hurt her in front of him he would make sure that they paid dearly. It was different than how he felt about his fellow spartans and Cortana, there was even a difference in how he felt between Garrus and Tali. With the quarian it was something deeper and something he was unable to comprehend. What made it even more strange than his deep care for the female alien, was every time she was around him Tali made him want to do things he was not used to. Hold her hand, hug her when she even slightly upset, talk to her more than anyone else, and even visit her for nothing more than to just be in her presence.

A poke to his arm drew him from his thoughts causing the ice blue eyes to look at the immensely amused sangheili, "I asked one question and lost you. You, Demon have a lot to work through. Mind telling me what you were thinking of?"

John shook his head and went to get dressed while trusting Arbiter to move his armor to the side. They were working on a couple of stands where the two could set their armor in a better place instead of on the floor. "It's nothing of importance."

The elite snorted amused, "As you humans are fond of saying, bullshit." He waited to see if the Chief was going to explain though it was clear the spartan wasn't going to answer, "You are going to have to ask your questions eventually." The human not sure how to respond for once just tied his shoes and walked out leaving a very amused Arbiter inside the Cargo Bay, "I swear the Demon is more hard headed than some sangheili I know."

Brown eyes looked at the turian smiling at him as he walked in, "You want to come with me to the Citadel? I can show you around before we meet up with Chief and Tali. Maybe we ourselves can catch a bite to eat." Arbiter hesitated for just a moment, thinking about the proposal, and nodded following the turian out of the Cargo Bay.

hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm

Tali looked over to take in what the human next to her was wearing as the elevator went up. It was similar to what he had been wearing but the shirt he had on was showing a little more of his arm than normal, thus allowing her to see more of his muscles. In that observation she realized that there was more possible scars that she had not seen yet and it made her wonder if he felt uncomfortable showing the scars he had. One that was just peeking out of the sleeve of his shirt look older than some of the scars she assumed came from battles. It amazed her just how much people could endure when they really tried to survive what they were going through. However, the scar that was peeking made her think that it was not a battle scar at all. There was just something about it that screamed that something else entirely had caused the scarring.

Drumming her fingers on her arm she glanced at the man next to her, "Chief, do you mind if I ask you something?" Ice blue eyes locked onto her own covered eyes as he shook his head in reply. It was so strange with the way he locked eyes with hers. The way he did made her think that he could actually see through the screen on her mask. And it didn't help that she would get a fluttery sensation in her stomach when he focused on her. "Did you always want to be in the service?" Seeing the slightest twitch that caused her to elaborate, "I've asked Sheppard and he said that he had always been interested in being in service. I was just curious if you were the same way?"

"No, but it is who I am in the end."

"What did you want to do, if you don't mind my asking?"

Master Chief stayed quiet as he contemplated his reply. By the time he came up with one they had reached their floor and headed out so they could get onto the citadel. "I don't remember what I wanted to be when I was younger. You?"

"I wanted to be someone like my father. Inventing things and trying to make life easier for my people." Tali replied smiling softly under her helmet. The way he looked at her allowed her to see the curious light that shined in his blue eyes. "Is something the matter?"

He took a quick second to word his question in his head, "From what I gathered you all live on ships and are trying to take back your planet from the geth. I can imagine that there must be differing sides on the issue. Do you know how that is being handled?"

Tali thought for a moment, "There are differing sides some of us want to kill off all geth and take back the planet by force and there are others that simply want to have peace with the geth. I'm not sure which side will win out. As far as I know there are still two clear sides on their view of geth."

"What is your stand?"

"I'm…not entirely sure to be honest. Before meeting Cortana I didn't think there was a way to have peace with A.I. but after… I don't know where I stand on the issue anymore." The two reached the entry to the citadel where Tali said, "It's probably best we drop this part of the conversation for now. The last thing we should talk about on here is the geth. There will be many who will have a view on them." Chief nodded in understanding and followed her inside.


End file.
